Dreamscape
by Jade Rotaski Queen of the Damned
Summary: Dark AcexAerrow, VERY slight FinnxJunko and one sided FinnxAerrow. Summery to battlefield: "Aim blasters on the Condor and fire when ready" Ace ordered dully before turning to his 2nd in command "Your in charge, I'll take care of the Sky Knight"
1. Dreamscape

Okay I'm making a one shot now because this idea has been haunting my dreams XD No joke I've dreamt about this scenario for the past three days and its driving me nuts! So without further ado I present to you this! Enjoy!

Discalimer; I don't own Strom Hawks, but I do own the name Axara because Aerrow's dad currently doesn't have a name.

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Dreamscape

Pairing: Dark AcexAerrow

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**Dreamscape: **_n. A dreamlike scene, which has surreal qualities._

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The Dark Ace smirked to himself in the darkness, he couldn't believe how simple and easy it was to infiltrate the Condor, a ship he himself had once been a part of so many years ago; because of this he had an extensive knowledge of the ship's interior and background and found it easy to bypass the carrier-pilot's paranoid traps and enter the ship undetected. The ship itself was silent save for the quite rumble of the engines and the occasional creak of the ship, as he quietly walked though the ships hanger, past the teams skimmer bikes and through to where he knew the crew quarters were.

The Dark Ace felt the pangs of nostalgia and lost memories as he walked through the ship, he remembered back to the times when he has been working and living with his other team mates on the Condor and it had been…fun for a while…that was, until Axara arrived; the old leader of the Storm Hawks, and Aerrow's father became the new team leader after the other Sky Knight had died in battle. Axara had been a replacement but the other team members had bonded quickly with him, Ace however had not; he hated the way Axara treated him, though he became his new co-pilot he felt, no he KNEW the Sky knight didn't like him and looked down on him, it was part of the reason he betrayed Axara and the others to the Cyclonians so many years ago, the funny thing is, that he didn't know much about Axara he didn't know whether he was married or he had kids…until he first saw Aerrow, if he had he probably would have hunted the kid down, and either brought him to Cyclonia or killed him.

He looked just like his father, almost a spitting image except for the green eyes, the teen had obviously gotten them from his mother, but everything else the hair, the stance, the expressions, they were all his fathers.

And the Dark Ace hated him for it…

No…Not hated, that was such a harsh word even for him when referring to the teen, he didn't really HATE the kid, sure he was a thorn in his side on more than one occasion but he didn't really hate Aerrow for it, they were simply on opposite sides; Aerrow was a Sky Knight and he was Cyclonian, it was natural for then to feel a certain dislike for each other, it was how the war between the two factions worked.

Walking quietly along the walkway that joined all the crew quarters he headed to the last door on the left, which had been his fathers; he didn't know how Snipe knew which bunk Aerrow slept in (1) and honestly he didn't want to think such a disturbing thought, instead he just took the information and had headed out here on his mission.

His mission to Kill Aerrow.

Mater Cyclonis had, had enough of the Storm hawks meddling in her plans and she wanted the leader taken out. Permanently. Dark Ace had nodded and agreed to take on the mission but he had a heavy heart when doing so; Aerrow was only 15! He was hardly an adult, it was a shame that he would have to cut the teens life early, especially when he showed so much talent and promise, but orders were orders he would do this if it assured the Cyclonians victory.

He paused when he finally reached Aerrow's room and he took a deep breath preparing himself like he did on all the other occasions where killing was necessary, before he allowed the door to open and he stepped inside.

What he found took his breath away.

What he saw in front of him couldn't be the boy he'd sent to kill, it just seemed too eerie, too unreal even for him, Dark Ace had never been one to believe old sailors stories of sky sirens and angels.

Until now…

Aerrow was fast asleep in his bunk, the covers had been kicked off of him due to the warm night and Aerrow's nightshirt was open, revealing his slightly tanned chest, which rose and fell gently with each soft breath the teen looked so innocent to _tempting_ just lying there. Dark ace wanted to smack himself in the head for thinking such weird things; for a start he was at LEAST 8 years older then the teen, they were both male AND they were enemies for fucks sake!

'This is ridiculous I don't have an attachment to him, I'll just kill him and get it over with' the dark haired Cyclonian thought as he pulled out his sword the blade glowing a blood red, and he lifted it over the teen, the tip of the blade pointing downwards, the glow of the blade illuminating the red haired teen as Dark Ace prepared to thrust the sword downwards.

…Seconds past and his arms hadn't moved.

Slowly he felt his arms lower of their own accord and he moved the blade from over the teen and shut off the crystal as he stared at the sleeping red head for a long time mentally wrestling with himself as to why he just couldn't kill the kid and have it done with. Ever since he'd joined Cyclonia he had carried out Master Cyclonis's orders without hesitation even when some of the orders felt wrong and cruel, even to him, he had done it anyway, he'd never hesitated to kill someone before, he had stuck to his motto of 'No mercy' so why couldn't he kill the brat?

'_Maybe because you actually like him' _a voice sounding ironically like Axara whispered in his mind, which made the dark haired commander try to shake the thought away but it was no good. _'Oh no, your not getting rid of me now! You remember me right? I'm your conscience, you know, probably the last part of you that has some morals and that actually CARES about someone other than yourself?' _Axara's voice muttered obviously bitter about something; the Dark Ace snorted at this wondering if the stress of his job was finally getting to him; even years on from he betrayal, the other was still pissed at him, or maybe that was his punishment, to have a bitter sounding Axara as his newly re-found conscience.

The Dark Ace groaned quietly, this HAD to be some form of twisted karma.

'_Yeah it probably is' _his conscience said with a slight snicker at his thoughts '_You and I need a serious talk, seen as it's been so long since you were hit with a touch of doubt about yourself and your 'mission''_ the voice said and the dark haired man could almost see two hands making comma motions in his mind at the word 'mission' '_Anyway we'll talk about this later let's focus on the main problem here: Why can't you kill my son?'_

The dark haired Cyclonian actually grimaced slightly at being reminded just how young Aerrow was, and whom EXACTLY he descended from. With a sigh he thought about this for a few minutes before he shook his head "I don't know" he murmured forcing himself not to look at Axara's son as he did so, only to make he conscience sigh at him.

'_Lair! You know PERFECTLY well why you can't kill him, the only problem is that you're a) too stubborn to actually admit it and b) you've spent so many years burying your emotions and your conscience, you've almost become heartless to everything, even helping Cyclonia became emotionless didn't it? But, he changed that didn't he?'_ it was a statement and not a question and even if it was, the dark haired commander wouldn't, no couldn't, have given his conscience an answer.

On the bed Aerrow sighed and shifted on the bed moving onto his side unaware that he was twisting his nightshirt underneath him before settling down again, completely unaware he was being contemplated over.

'_He doesn't know yet does he? That you're the one that killed me?'_ Axara asked the voice was surprisingly soft and not accusatory at all, the Dark Ace shrugged as he took the opportunity to walk over to the small window in Aerrow's room and look out of it as he contemplated the question.

"I don't know, if he does it would explain all the hatred he has towards me" the dark haired commander said softly as he thought back to all the times he and the red haired leader of the Storm hawks had clashed blades, the hatred in his eyes had been intense and far more than what he expected; he was a Cyclonian and his enemy so he understood some of that hate, but not all of it until now.

Axara sighed_ 'Well if he's anything like me he'll get over it…eventually, even more so because he's young I've been dead for years, he can't do much about it now, well actually... he COULD kill you but that's about it'_

Dark Ace rolled his eyes at this "If your trying to cheer me, up your failing at it very badly Axara, your confidence speeches always were extremely lame" the dark haired man whispered to himself as he forced himself not to turn around to look (_'Check on' _Axara said to Dark Ace's annoyance) at the teen and focused at why he couldn't kill Aerrow and what he would say to Master Cyclonis; true she gave him a lot of leeway where failures were concerned, but recently her leeway had grown extremely short, even for him.

'_She's not going to be happy huh? Why wouldn't she forgive you though? You're her humble and loyal bitch right?' _Dark Ace bit his lip to stop himself from shouting at himself at the bitch part of Axara's comment, even though technically it was true.

Instead the grip on his two bladed sword got tighter, the only sign of his irritation. "She's had too many plans fail since the Storm Hawks were revived and laughingly enough, she's also questioning my loyalty, she hasn't said anything but I've seen the looks she gives me every time I fail to destroy the Storm Hawks" the commander said softly. "I think, that it's his life or mine this time"

_'Do you love him?'_ Axara's voice asked quietly and this question actually made the Dark Ace smirk in amusement at the craziness of all this; here he was standing in Aerrows bunk on the Condor, talking to himself because he thought he had Axara for a conscience in his head. 

"I don't love him, but…I don't dislike him either" the commander said finally turning towards the sleeping teen; he felt confused about this whole situation and it was an uncomfortable emotion to re-live, he was used to knowing what to do, being in control of how he ran things…but he couldn't control this.

He couldn't control this strange want for the teen.

'_So your infatuated with my son, your one sick fuck Ace' _Axara commented half in spite and the other in amusement_ 'You'd better not rape him while you're here its bad enough your drooling over him in his room while he's asleep'_

If the dark haired commander could have killed he bodiless voice in his head he would have done so happily and damned the consequences, as it were he had no choice but to listen to the snide comments of the other while silently raging…

that was until he heard Aerrow speak.

Even Axara fell silent as one word passed the Aerrow's lips and was sighed out softly "…Ace…" the teen rolled onto his back again and groaned softly as his dreams became more intense. _'Ohh looks like my son doesn't hate you so much after all…I don't know weather to be shocked or slightly sickened by it'_ Axara commented lightly, as the dark haired Cyclonian walked over to the bed where Aerrow was sleeping restlessly a frown on his handsome face as he just stared at the other.

The teenage Sky knight groaned softly again and his hips arched slightly his lips parted as a light gasp escaped "Ace…." The teen whispered again, the way the teenager said his name sent a jolt of satisfaction a pleasure through him; the teen had never said his name like that when he was awake.

The dark haired commander looked down at the teen an unreadable expression on his face at the other, at this point he actually expected Axara to say something snide or even to talk him out of doing anything to his son, but all he received was silence which both relived and unnerved the Cyclonian commander.

Dark Ace's blood red eyes started at Aerrow intensely, then slowly he pulled off one of his black gloves and giving into just a little of his temptation, he trailed a his fingers gently down the boys lightly tanned chest, savouring the smooth warm skin under his fingertips, Aerrow gave him the required reaction which was to moan, quite loudly, curious the dark haired man did it again but this time he let his nails scrape slightly against the teens flesh which made the boy cry out his name softly.

He paused after a moment to see if the other would awake after concluding the leader of the Storm Hawks was either still asleep or a really good actor, he slowly leaned down and captured those tempting lips with his own, kissing with a gentleness he didn't even know he had in him before pulling away, knowing he'd stayed for too long and that even though he knew punishment was probably waiting for him in Cyclonia, this moment with the teen was worth it. "Until next time Aerrow" Ace whispered in the teens ear before he stood.

'_Your such a paedophile Ace'_ Axara finally commented with a snicker as the Cyclonian commander silently left Ace's room and headed back to the hanger "Shut up Axara" he growled "I didn't hear to protesting when I touched him" That made Axara shut up, with a smirk of victory the Dark Ace walked out of the hanger and over to his skimmer.

Not one minute after the Dark Ace left his room, Aerrow snapped awake panting heavily with a raging erection. 'What a dream, it, it wasn't like the others…' the red haired teen thought; for a start the dream's he had involving Dark Ace were fitful and uneasy and Aerrow usually woke up before it got intimate but this time…Aerrow saw the erection and bit his lip 'I shouldn't, I know I shouldn't but…_oh god_' the teenage Sky Knight thought as he reached into his pants and slowly began stroking himself softly his green eyes fluttering closed in pleasure as he fantasized about one person, one man who was unobtainable to him, the one person who was his greatest enemy and his greatest desire.

Moaning loudly, he clamped a hand over his mouth to muffle his moans of pleasure crying out the Cyclonians name over and over until he finally couldn't take it anymore and he came with a quiet whimper.

Panting softly Aerrow lay there for a moment getting over his orgasm and as he did so he turned his head to the window and swore he saw a red skimmer fly off past his window and into the distance.

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(1) Referring to episode 19 where Finn clones himself and Snipe comes aboard, I'm thinking he might have snooped around first and forced the clones to tell him what all the rooms were, it seems like the thing he'd do XD

Oh my god! XD I didn't intend for Axara to get such an important role in this but I'm not complaining I enjoyed trying to invent his character from scratch I tried to make him a bit more arrogant then Aerrow and more likely to hold a grudge XD

This IS supposed to be a one shot but I suppose if I get enough encouragement to continue I might make a sequel probably involving Dark ace being tortured by Cyclonis for flailing to carry out orders and Aerrow stumbles in on him while doing a stealth mission…ohh the possibilities XD Until next time, see ya!!!


	2. Fallen

Okay because so many people asked for it, here's the sequel to Dreamscape for you all to enjoy! Thank you to everyone who reviewed for a sequel and I hope you enjoy this just as much as the first chapter!

Jade xx

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Chapter 2: Fallen

_**Fallen: **__–adjective_

_Having dropped or come down from a higher place, from an upright position, or from a higher level, degree, amount, quality, value, number, etc. _

_Degraded or immoral._

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Dark Ace knew it had been coming upon his return, he knew that upon disclosing his failure to kill Aerrow that he would be branded a traitor and more than likely, be sentenced to death, even so he landed on Cyclonian soil with his head held high and his face passive as he walked past Master Cyclonis's elite guards and entered her chambers.

"Ah Dark Ace, so you've returned, you completed you mission I trust?" Master Cyclonis said softly her fingers flying across her crystal conversion machine, her back to him as she spoke. The dark haired Cyclonian didn't answer for a moment as he thought about how to tell her he had failed, that his emotions, his feelings for Aerrow had caused him to fail.

"I'm afraid I have failed you master" The dark haired Cyclonian spoke softly preparing himself for the wrath he knew was about to head his away "There were some…complications I had not foreseen and as such Aerrow is still alive." Master Cyclonis was silent for her moment her fingers stopped clicking on the keys of her machine and the tense silence echoed throughout her chamber; that was just as bad, if not worse than her yelling at him.

"I see…I thought this might happen" she said softly he voice echoing in the room "It's a pity, you are, no…were one of my best men, its such a pity you've decided to fall from your pedestal so soon" The Dark Ace couldn't react as she began glowing with her dangerous dark purple aura, suddenly she spun around to face him and a red beam of light shaped like an arm grabbed him and pinned him to the nearest wall.

She turned to him her face was twisted in a cruel, cold, yet amused smile "I should have known your history with the former Storm Hawks would hold you back sooner or later, it was only a matter of time until your conscience caught up with you after all" The Dark Ace didn't struggle in his restraints, he just looked at her calmly as she slowly walked towards him, and for a moment Dark ace looked at the young girl he'd been so loyal too; sometimes he had to wonder how such a bright, intelligent and pretty girl had become so twisted over a short period of time, his thoughts were de-railed as the young Cyclonian leader spoke once more. "However, I am surprised it took this long, throughout all the orders I gave to you, you never hesitated to carry them out, not once, even those orders I knew you despised you did out of pure loyalty to me…but as soon as it comes to that boy, the child of Axara, your defenses crumble and you are nothing more than a broken man"

Ace was silent throughout this; he had no comeback to Master Cyclonis' taunts, because all of what she was saying was true, the teenage leader regarded him carefully as two of her elite Cyclonian guards entered as she clicked her fingers. "As of today, you Dark Ace, are removed from your command and classed as a traitor to Cyclonis, but I wont be too cruel, your name shall live on as a legend in Cyclonia, you will just…disappear never to be seen again" she said with a cruel smirk as Dark Ace looked away from her gaze at this; that was the worst thing she could do, other than kill Aerrow in front of him; to make him sound like a legend, an example for all Talons, while he rotted in a cell, while in truth he was neither.

"Take him to the torture chambers and throw him in one of the more…inhospitable cells" she purred as the glowing red arm faded and the Cyclonian elites grabbed him twisting his arms painfully around his back. "Take a good look out of the windows you pass on your way to the chamber Ace, it will be the last glimpse of freedom you'll see again" the dark haired leader said before laughing evilly as her former second in command was dragged away from her chambers the evil laugher echoing throughout Cyclonia.

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On the Condor a few weeks later…

"Were all doomed I know it" Stork said his eyes twitching as he tried yet again to avoid some Cyclonian cruisers, both Junko and Finn were at the manual guns trying to fire back but the cruisers shields were far too strong "Junko try to aim for the engines!" Finn cried; both Aerrow and Piper were on their skimmers trying to stop the Cyclonian Talons from trying to board the Condor. Junko nodded at his friend and did so eventually they managed to short out the Cyclonian ships engines and he began crashing into the wastelands "Alright!" the blonde said as he hit the second ship and he grinned as he brought the gun back inside the ship and grinned "We rocked!" the blonde said high-fiving with Junko as the talons began retreating once they realized their war ships had fallen. Aerrow smiled to himself as he flew back into the hanger bay with Piper.

"Great work guys we should have some peace and quiet now were away from any sort of Cyclonian territory" the red haired teen said as he cut the engine and stepped off his skimmer and joined the others in the observation deck "How do thinks look Stork?" the red head asked.

The nervous Merb's eye twitched at this "We took some damage at the front of the Condor from the Talons and the shields are malfunctioning, but other than that…it could be worse" the Merb said a she steered the Condor through the sky. Aerrow nodded at this "Junko, Rader try and fix the Condors shields the outer damage can wait until we land seen as its mostly superficial, Piper where's the nearest Terra to our location?" He asked as the teenage girl rolled out a map and studied it care fully "Umm well Terra Cyclonia, actually" she said rather sheepishly "the nearest one to that is Terra Gale but that's over 60 miles away"

Aerrow nodded at this; there was no way they were going to Cyclonia, it would be suicide, even though sightings of any Talon forces had dropped considerably, in all honestly those cruisers were the first they had seen in weeks. "I guess we'll have to plot a course to Terra Gale then" he said with a faint smile as he watched his squadron go about their work, he glanced out of the front windows where he could see the faint red hues of Terra Cyclonia in the distance, and thought about the Dark Ace. 'No one had seen or heard from him for weeks which is unusual, he's not one to stay out of the action' the red haired Sky knight thought before shaking his head irritably; ever since he'd had that rather…erotic dream about the dark haired commander he hadn't been able to STOP thinking about him.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts he leant on the rails as he watched the sun set.

Suddenly Stork shivered and jumped in surprise when a beep sounded, "I'm receiving an incoming message, I think it's from Starling" Stork said as he pressed a button and the speakers of the ship crackled to life. "Storm Hawks, something odd is happening in Cyclonia, if your up for it how would you like to do a stealth mission with me to find out what's going on? If so meet me at Terra Gale and we can talk further" Then the message crackled and ended.

Aerrow thought about this message and exchanged a look with Piper before he sighed "Well were heading to Terra Gale anyway we might as well see what Starling wants" the red haired Sky Knight said with a sigh; so much for staying away from Cyclonian's…

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The Dark Ace opened his eyes

He saw blackness staring back.

The dark haired ex-commander sighed as he slowly sat up using his hands to feel along the rough and grimy walls enough so he could sit up, he didn't know how long it had been like this, it was probably weeks now, maybe even months, he couldn't tell seen as the Cyclonian prison guards fed him on irregular intervals, and as such was rather malnourished, not that Dark Ace cared really, he'd rather die right now than live out his now pitiful existence; he had been Cyclonis's best man and now due to his own weakness he had failed her and now he was nothing.

'_Well what did you expect? Choosing my 15 year old son over your 18 year old leader? Heh you have good taste I suppose' _Dark Ace heard Axara say in his mind; his so called conscience had been rather silent as of late only appearing to shoot him a snide comment or two like he was today. Gritting his teeth in anger he chose not to respond to the comment; lest the guards that guarded him believed he really had lost his mind.

He didn't even know why Cyclonis was keeping him alive, he thought that she at least would have executed him by now 'Maybe she thinks don't deserve a quick death' the dark haired man thought tiredly as he felt the jagged stones of the wall dig into his back as he propped himself up against it. _'She probably wants you to suffer, which is rather ironic if you think about it, the council wouldn't allow that they'd execute you straight away' _Axara pointed softly but again the Dark Ace ignored it.

It was too dark to see but he knew he probably looked a mess; the talons regularly took him out of his cell to beat the shit out of him (Which was no surprise, he wasn't their leader anymore and they could do as they pleased seen as Cyclonis had not given the Talons guarding him any orders on how to treat him); he knew at least three of his ribs were broken, he had a bust lip and a black eye and he knew his leg was possibly fractured or broken to seen as his jolted in pain every time he moved it.

He knew he was probably going to die here in the dark cell but that thought didn't seem to bother him that much; he had done what he'd always wanted, he'd given in just a little and taken a kiss from Aerrow, he didn't know if it was worth dying over, but right now that was the only thing that kept him going, it gave him strength to think of possibilities and ways of escaping this hellhole; even if that were possible in his current state he really didn't have anywhere to go; all of Atmos knew who he was, he'd have to find a way to disguise himself before he approached anyone, or Master Cyclonis would find him again and if she did she'd kill him on the spot for sure.

It was then he noticed the footsteps getting louder and coming closer to where he was, the footsteps didn't sound like the Talons, these steppes were light, and hurried, he head a key turn in the rusty lock of his cell before the door opened the dark haired Ex-commander hissed and used one thin arm to cover his eyes from the light (As weak as the light was, he HAD been confined to darkness for god knows how long) then an achingly familiar voice called out to him.

"D-dark Ace?"

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Aerrow sighed as the condor landed on Terra Gale; it had been a while since they had come here to visit so they were greeted by a happy Dove "Ah Strom Hawks what a pleasant surprise" she said with a smile her French accent lingering as she spoke; she was a bit taller than when they had last seen her and her long hair was tied into a ponytail. Aerrow smiled a her before he sighed "I'm afraid were here in business only, is Starling here?" The red haired Sky knight asked.

"Of ze Interceptors? Of course she arrived a couple of hours ago, she is currently resting in the inn" Dove said pointing to the small building down the path "She did not say why she was 'ere however but then again it iz not my business, I will say this though, she did not look good" Aerrow blinked at the last part of the girls sentence but he smiled and thanked the young girl before they went on their way to the Inn.

They found Starling inside looking like Dove had said; looking more than a little worse for wear; she looked exhausted, with large bags under her eyes, she had a bloody bandage wrapped around her head and one of her arms was in a sling "Ah, Storm Hawks, I'm glad you could make it" she said he voice croaking a little from lack of use, pointedly ignoring the teams looks of shock when they caught sight of her, she sighed and ignored this as she sat up in her bed wincing when he moved her ribs too much.

"Starling what happened to you?" Piper asked concerned for the other, the purple haired women cracked a smile faintly at there concerned looks and wanted to laugh, she really must look that bad if the Storm Hawks were fussing over her, but she kept her laugher in and sighed.

"This? This was the Cyclonian's doing" she said softly "Things have been rather weird in Cyclonia lately, even though they have expanded on their territory, the number of Talons that have been in and around the territories has dropped to almost nothing, and there has been no signs of the Dark Ace for almost two months now, which I thought was unusual, I tired to sneak to Cyclonia to see what was going on, but Snipe found me first, he whacked me a few times with that mace of his then destroyed my skimmer" she said rather bitterly, seemingly more annoyed her skimmer had been damaged than her own health.

Piper exchanged a look with Aerrow when the injured Sky Knight mentioned the Dark Ace "We noticed that too, we haven't seen or heard anything of the Dark Ace either" the red head said and inwardly felt a jolt of surprise when he felt worry creep through him before he squashed it down, he wasn't supposed to feel worry for his arch enemy!

'_You're not meant to jerk off while thinking about him either, but you did'_ his mind said in a snide whisper, as an image from his dream popped into his head: the one where the Dark Ace had him pinned to his bed and was kissing him gently his hands roaming across his naked body…

The red haired teen shook the images away as Starling nodded at this "It seems either the Dark Ace has been killed and the Cyclonian's are covering it up, (Aerrow bit his lip at this Starling noticed), he's been injured and is out of commission or…well Its just a theory but…I think Dark Ace might have tried to defy Cyclonis and she's made him disappear" the purple haired women said softly.

The teens just stared at her in disbelief "What? Why would he do that?" Finn asked rather amused "He turned his back on the order and killed the old generation of Storm Hawks, he's been loyal to her for years why would he turn his back on her now?" Finn asked and the others nodded in agreement to Finns point (Junko and Piper were mildly surprised that the blonde had actually said something intelligent)

Starling smiled a little, the blonde sharpshooter had a point but she sighed; she had known the Dark Ace before he had turned, when he only answered to the name 'Ace' and he'd been happy of a sorts, loyal and carefree…but the teenagers in front of her were not ready for such a story yet, especially Aerrow and she merely shrugged "Its just a theory Finn, either way, myself and the Sky Knight council want to know what's going on within Cyclonia's walls, so can I rely on your help?" she asked.

Aerrow nodded to this without any hesitation; he really wanted to know what had happened to the Dark Ace and that curiosity more than most, fueled him to agree to the mission. "Of course you do Starling, so… what would you have us do?"

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Sneaking into Terra Cyclonia a second time was harder than Aerrow had first thought; it seemed from the last time he had come here to stop Cyclonis using the Aurora crystal they had tightened their security immensely, the couldn't use the sewage works this time due to the huge iron grills covering the entrances, Finn suggested shooting the grills down but doing such an action would destroy the whole point of the mission which as supposed to be stealthy.

"Well what do we do then?" The blonde marksmen asked as they edged along Cyclonian territory; they had a map that Starling had given them; she had managed to get into the territory without the Terra's alarms going off, but Snipe had spotted her before she could get very far.

The red haired sighed "It's no use we'll have to go on our Skimmers to get past the Terra's shields, Stork hide up high in the clouds so you can't be spotted, Finn you come with me, Piper you go with Junko, it will be easier for us to slip into Cyclonian territory if we go in pairs" the red haired teen said to which his team nodded as they stocked up on weapons and crystals for their mission. Once they were ready they headed out Junko and Piper going one way while Aerrow and Finn went the other way as Stork maneuvered the Condor around and headed up high in the clouds like Aerrow had said.

The red head and Finn entered Cyclonian territory and found silence, he couldn't hear a single thing other than the hum of his and Finn's skimmer, all the industrial factories were deathly silent "Dude, I don't like this" The blonde said softly as his keen blue eyes darted around looking for any signs of Talons, Dark Ace, Snipe or Ravess but there was nothing but the blood red sky of Cyclonia, the quiet Terras and themselves.

"I don't like it either" the red haired teen admitted softly; to have Cyclonia this quiet and unguarded was wrong, if felt all wrong, it had to be some sort of trap. Flipping on his communicator on his skimmer he tried to contact Piper and Junko, but he didn't receive a reply only bursts of static, Finn also tried to contact Piper and his best friend and received nothing, Aerrow frowned at this "Finn, go and find Piper and Junko and head back to the Condor" he said knowing that Finn would worry about Junko despite the fact that Junko was a Wallop and more than capable of defending him self.

The blonde nodded then paused "What about you?" he asked concerned Aerrow exchanged a look with Radarr who gave him a thumbs up "Its okay I'll look around, if I need any help I'll throw out a flare" he said with a confident smile. The blonde was hesitant to leave Arrow alone with out backup but he also had faith in the red haired teens abilities and turned his skimmer around to find Junko.

Radarr chattered at Aerrow and frowned; he knew something was worrying his human friend, it had been for a while but of course he couldn't ask the red head, seen as he didn't speak human, the closest he could get to questioning the red head was to give him 'the look' "Don't worry Radarr I'm fine" he said upon seen that look, the same look that his blue haired friend had been shooting him for a while. The blue haired creature rolled his eyes knowing Aerrow was lying but he wasn't talking either so there was nothing Radarr could do but watch as they got closer to Cyclonis's castle.

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Piper groaned as she opened her eyes and sat up, the back of her head throbbing horribly; she didn't know what had happened, one minute she had been telling Junko that he had a bad feeling about this and it was too quiet and the next her Heliscooter's engines began failing, as did Junko's, that was the last thing she remembered. 'There must be some leecher crystals around here or something' The dark skinned teen thought as she slowly got to her feet, she saw Junko was a few feet away from her still unconscious "Junko! Ugh! Junko wake up!" she said trying to shake the Wallop, but Junko was completely out of it.

After a few more attempts the blue haired teen sighed and gave up and looked at the wreckage of her and Junko's skimmers, both were dented and scratched but they seemed to be in one piece which meant it would be easy for Stork to fix. Quickly she opened her engine core to look at the crystals and frowned when she saw each crystal was almost black and dull; a true sign that leecher crystals were somewhere close.

Biting her lips she knew there was nothing she could do until the others noticed her and Junko missing, to her surprise however; help came sooner rather than later "Hey!" a familiar called at her from above about 10 minutes later to see Finn sliding down the cliff to meet her "Hey you okay? Me and Aerrow tired to contact you but all we got was static, then my skimmer started acting weird so a landed away ways…" he said as he finally reached the bottom.

Piper never thought she'd be glad to see the blonde and she smiled at him "I think there's a load of leecher crystals buried on this terra that's why our engines failed, your lucky you managed to land" she said at Finn who just grinned and pointed his fingers in the air like pistols "Chika cha!" he just said in response before he saw Junko and his smile faded "Is he okay?" he asked worry lacing his voice as he hurried over to his friend.

Piper shrugged "He's okay, I think he's just unconscious, I tired to wake him but as you can see I failed" she said as Finn looked down at his friend then smiled deviously and he turned to Piper a mischievous glint in his sky blue eyes as he spoke.

"Don't worry, I know how to wake him up" he said as he rummaged into his pocket for something, to Pipers surprise he emerged with a small bottle that was filled with a strange green substance and curious, she watched as he pulled off the cork and wafted it under the Wallops nose.

The effect was instantaneous.

"Ugh! Merb cabbage! Not that! Anything but…Finn?" The Wallop asked confused as his eyes focused on his blonde friend who was smirking and Piper was laughing quietly behind her hand, as Finn straightened and placed the small bottle back into his pocket "Come on big guy we need to get out of here and back to the Condor to repair your skimmers" he said as he noticed that both Piper and Junko's were dented.

"But what about Aerrow?" Junko asked as he rubbed his eyes and got to his feet, Pipers smile faded at that as well, her eyes filling with concern as they both looked at the blonde. Finn sighed, knowing he'd have to tell them both the truth now; had been hoping to avoid it at least long enough until they were all back on the Condor.

"…He went on his own, I didn't want to leave him!" he protested when he saw Piper glare at him and Junko opened his mouth to protest "But he insisted that I find you guys and help you back to the Condor, he said he'd light a flare or contact us if he had any problems" the blonde said hurriedly "I didn't like it either, the whole of Cyclonia's silent as a graveyard and he's going in there on his own, but he insisted, and he IS our leader, I couldn't say no" the blonde said, the regret of agreeing to such a decision in his voice.

Piper sighed; Finn was right; Aerrow WAS their leader and the blonde had meanly adhered to his request to find them even if the blond marksmen hadn't wanted to "So…what now? How are we going to get up that cliff? How are we going to get our SKIMMERS up?" Piper asked as she started up at the 25 feet or so that separated them from the top of the cliff, Finn glanced at Junko who grinned in response.

"Just leave this to me" the Wallop said before he clanged his knuckle busters together, making them glow a green colour as he moved towards his two friends. Piper swallowed and prayed inside her head that she'd live through this.

-----------------

Aerrow glanced around him as he landed on the court yard of Cyclonis tower; the home of Master Cyclonis herself and stepped off his skimmer as the engine shut down and looked around; the whole castle was made of black stone and gray marble and Aerrow found it rather depressing to be honest, he had to wonder how Cyclonis could live here and not have a mental breakdown. Quietly he walked through the large front doors half expecting to see an ambush, but all he found was silence through out the lavish castle as he walked through the hall ways and peeked into each room to try and find someone, ANYONE just so he could find them and ask what the hell was going on.

Upon opening the main chamber, which Aerrow recognized as the room he'd last fought Cyclonis in (It had been remade since then seen as he had destroyed the room before when he destroyed the Aurora crystal) The crystal conversion machine was set in a corner quiet and unmoving. Suddenly he saw something shift in the corner of his eye to his left and rolled away just in time to see a large mace studded with red crystals smashed onto the marble floor where he'd been moments before.

Turning Aerrow pulled out his daggers and spun to face none other than Snipe "Well, well, I wondered who Starling would send to check Cyclonia, seen as she can't do it herself, I should have known she'd rely on the Storm Hawks" Snipe said chuckling darkly as the ball of his mace retracted to sit back on its handle.

"Where is everyone? Where's Cyclonis?" he demanded, his blue daggers glowing softly, Snipe was silent for a moment before he chuckled "She's not here, she's left to excavate some crystals somewhere, I don't know where, nor do I care, she just left and took every available Talon with her, she left me in charge here though, in case some _pesky_ Sky Knights come and invade us" he said saying the word pesky with as much venom as he could muster.

Aerrow blinked at this; well that explained why all of Atmos was so quiet "And what about the Dark Ace?" he asked his eyes glaring into Snipes as the burly man snorted, then in one swift move he made to attack the red head but Aerrow blocked and dodged his attack.

"Why do you care?" he snapped annoyed Aerrow had blocked his attack so easily before he swung his mace which flew towards the red head as it released itself from it's hilt and swung from it's chain, the red haired barely dodged this and made his own attack, though inwardly he was pondering the mans question; WHY did he care so much about the Dark Ace? He knew the dreams weren't normal, just like he knew worrying for his arch-enemy wasn't normal for a young teenage boy, especially if said enemy was MALE.

'It's not like I LOVE him or anything' the red haired teen thought to himself ad he dodged another attack and back flipped away from the mace 'I…I just have…a crush I guess' the red haired teen thought grudgingly; it was hard for him to admit he had any sort of attraction to the Dark Ace to himself, especially since he had no interest in the opposite sex, which kind of worried Aerrow about what his sexuality actually was, though he never showed it.

"No one has seen him for over two months, did he go with Cyclonis? Is he dead? What happened to him?" Aerrow said his voice harsh, which surprised Snipe; if he didn't know any better he'd say the kid was UPSET over Dark Ace's sudden disappearance.

Snipe just chuckled as he stopped trying to hit the red head for a moment then smirked at the red head "His in one of the prison cell's if you must know, he went on a mission to kill you and ended up being too much of a pussy to do it so he's classed as a traitor, though none of the Talons know it and never will, its meant to be a secret" Snipe said his eyes glittering with utter mirth at that before he burst out laughing "Congratulations kid, you became the Dark Ace's downfall, and now I'll be yours"

Aerrow's eyes widened at this news; the Dark Ace had been ordered to…kill him? And he hadn't done it? Why? The dark haired man had always said that he had no mercy when it came to the Sky Knight's, so why? He hardly realized Snipe was going to strike him with his mace until a second before it happened, he managed to block the mace from striking his head with his dagger but it ended up scraping down his left arm causing several cuts in his uniform and a few more in his skin.

The red haired teen hissed in pain at this and backed away a little and Snipe smirked "Is it going numb yet? I have a paralyzing crystal in my mace you know you shouldn't be able to move that arm for a couple of hours" Aerrow glared at the other and realized that Snipe was telling the truth, he couldn't feel his arm right now, experimentally he tried to move his fingers, but they wouldn't respond.

…Fuck…

Now with one arm disabled he knew he was in trouble, but he didn't show it on his face and fought back bravely despite the fact his left arm was waving in the air uselessly as he did so, but eventually his exhaustion caught up with him and he was on the floor panting, sweat dripping down his face, his daggers on the other side of the room. "It's over Aerrow, I'll finish what Dark Ace started" he said with an evil laugh as he raised he mace, fully intending to bring it down on the others head.

…_CLANG!!_…

There was silence for a moment before Snipes eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fell backwards in a heap on the floor, then Radarr appeared in his vision holding a rather heavy looking frying pan. "…Where the heck did you get that?" he asked Radarr weakly, wondering where the blue haired creature had been able to find a frying pan of all things to whack Snipe over the head. The blue haired creature just shrugged and dropped the frying pan as Aerrow got to his feet and picked up his daggers (It was harder to do seen as his left arm was still unresponsive) "I need to go to the prison cells, I think there's someone down there, you wait here Radarr, if what Snipe says is true, no one else is going to be here" The blue haired creature nodded and stood guard of the unconscious Cyclonian, the red haired noticed a ring of keys sticking out of Snipe's pocket and swiped them "I wont be long" he promised his friend before he headed out of Cyclonis's chamber to the lower levels of the dungeons.

----------------------

Dark Ace wanted to laugh

It had to be irony really; the one person who got him into this mess just happened to see him (Dark Ace wasn't in the mood to hope he was being rescued) once he realized it was Aerrow he automatically put on a cold façade as the red head lit one of the grimy torches that adorned the wall of his cell with a small crystal. Once that was done Aerrow turned and gaped at the man as the light revealed the full extend of the older mans injuries. "Oh my God" the red haired Sky Knight said softly his green eyes wide in shock as he took the extent of the others injuries.

The Dark Ace snorted and turned away from that look, he didn't, no he couldn't see the other's pitying look, even though he hated himself he still had a little pride _'You still have pride? Ha sure you do, it's funny that you only wish to have pride now when HE'S here'_ Axara pointed out with a sneer but the dark haired man brushed him off, something he'd gotten rather good at recently."What do you want? Have you come to mock me?" he asked softly seen as his voice was croaking due to misuse so it sounded harsher than normal, in all honestly Axara was right; he didn't want to let Aerrow see him like this he was nothing more then a broken, dirty, disgusting prisoner, he didn't even class himself as a man anymore.

Aerrow winced at the others tone before he knelt down and began trying all of the keys on the chain to release the other; it was hard since he had to do it one handed. "No that's not why…I didn't even know you were down here" he said softly as he finally found the right key and the shackles fell from the older man's thin wrists. The Dark Ace blinked before he sheepishly rubbed his raw wrists; if he had been at full strength he would have attempted to lunge at the other and overpower him, but he hardly had the energy to stand let alone fight.

Once the red haired teen had freed the other an awkward silence stretched between them; they were enemies yet…neither actually WANTED to be the others enemy, and neither really knew what to say for a while so the Dark Ace started the conversation first "So…what now?" he asked softly "Are you going to put me in front of the council? As you have noticed I no longer fulfill any purpose to Cyclonia," he asked Aerrow blinked at this, he should have expected Dark Ace to ask that, but he hadn't and so he shrugged.

"…I don't know" he responded not looking at the other his right arm clutching at his left which was still numb and bleeding a little, he had so many questions he wanted to ask but he wasn't sure how to come about to asking them "I suppose…I could let you go free" he said as he stood letting the man have some space so he could slowly get to his feet.

The dark haired man snorted at this harshly and shook his head half in disdain and half in amusement at these words hardly believing he was hearing them "Free? You're going to set me free? Why? I'm your enemy Aerrow" he said using the grimy wall for support as his legs shook from misuse and malnutrition, his right ankle shooting jolts of pain up his leg, but he gritted his teeth and ignored it. "I threatened to kill you so many times, and now you're going to help me?" the dark haired man asked, it just seemed unreal; Aerrow was a Sky Knight, it was his duty as one to bring any and all Talons that have been captured to Atmosia to be tried at the courts, the kid would get a fucking medal of honor for such a task, and yet…he was going to let him go free?

There had to be a catch.

'_Maybe he's being honest, or maybe he doesn't want to have you captured because he wants you, he can hardly get your attention if your dead' _Axara said obviously trying to get the other to respond to him but the dark haired man's focus was on the red head and no one else. Aerrow didn't look at the other when he asked this mainly because he himself was unsure of what he was thinking; if Dark Ace had been at his best and still in command of Cyclonia's forces he doubted that even with these feeling he would hesitate to hand him over to the council, so why now when the man was at his utter lowest, did he think of letting him go free? "You never acted on it though" he blurted out in response, more to break the silence that had stretched between them more than anything else "You ALWAYS said you were going to kill me the next time we met but you never did…"

The red haired teen paused as the main question that he'd wanted to ask since Snipe mentioned the others down fall popped up in his head. "…Why? Why did you refuse to kill me when Cyclonis ordered you to?" That confused him more than anything; why would the Dark Ace NOT jump at the chance to do away with him? Wasn't he a thorn in the others side? A hindrance that needed to be thrown away?

The dark haired man froze at this: how the hell did the teen know about his mission? Had he been awake when he…no, that couldn't be right or Aerrow would be asking why he had kissed him not why he'd abandoned the mission. _'Oh, here it comes, my son's very nosy isn't he?' _Axara said but this time it was more to himself, seen as it had a hint of pride in his voice. The former Cyclonian commander sneered softly, half at the voice in his head and half at Aerrow "I don't see how that's any of your business" he snapped softly; he wanted the boy to go away so he could try and gather some semblance of pride and decency, seen as he was wearing a baggy torn shirt and pants, both of which were covered in filth.

"Wrong" Aerrow said with a frown, though he had been expecting the others stubbornness, "The question is about me and I have a right to know why you did what you did, I have the right to know why you didn't kill me when you had the chance to" he said as he folded his arms across his chest as he decided to give the other an ultimatum as he smirked "And seen as your being such an ass, I'm mot moving from the entrance until you tell me why" he said his green eye seemingly glowing softly. The dark haired man just stared at the teen amazed by his stubbornness, but he knew there was no way he could overpower the red head or get past him without the other stopping him, sighing he slumped and sat back down on the floor, giving his ankle and ribs some reprieve "Well, it looks like your in for a long wait, little Sky Knight"

Aerrow's mouth actually twisted into a grin at this and sat on the cell steps his one working hand draped over his knees as his green eyes locked with the older mans blood red ones; The Dark Ace was as defiant as ever even though he had sunk so low, and that made a part of him glad, glad that Cyclonis hadn't broken him yet, that he was still… well him, he wasn't a shell of a man yet, but it seems it had been a close thing. Aerrow's smile widened at the others stubbornness to tell him the truth; that could only mean that he was hiding something from him and there was no way he was moving until he knew the truth, smiling confidently the teen leaned against the doorway and continued to stare at the other

"Don't worry Ace, we've got all the time in the world"

-------------------

Annnnnd that's all for now! A friend of mine said I should have stopped when Aerrow had first opened the Dark Ace's cell but I wasn't going to be that evil XP Anyway I tried hard to keep everyone in character but I think people will be surprised at Finn's maturity and stuff but I figured even Finn would grow some brains with the others around him, and I don't know if I mentioned this before but everyone's a year older than in the show and the ages are as follows:

Aerrow: 15

Finn: 16

Junko: 17

Piper: 16

Stork: 22

Dark Ace: 24

Oh and if you Squint and turn your head to the left you MIGHT see a bit of FinnxJunko I intended it to be purely friendship based but I have nothing against the pairing either so you can take it how you like :) As for Axara, it only occurred to me at the last minute that I left him out if the WHOLE chapter so I slipped him in here and there XD

Do you guys want me to continue or stop here? To be honest it was almost CRIMINAL the amount of fun I had writing it seen as all of this randomly came out of my had with NO planning beforehand so yeah, if you want me to make another chapter you'll have to beg me to in your reviews ne? (Laughs) Any way until next time

Chika Cha!

Jade xx


	3. Change

Hello! Yes I'm finally back again with another chapter! Took me long enough didn't it! I had fun with this though not so much as the last chapter seen as I hit a writer's block just after finishing the first page. Ah well never mind it's done now! I hope you guys like it!

Jade xx

* * *

Chapter 3: Change

_Noun: _

_1. The act, or an insistence of becoming different._

_2. The substitution of one thing for another; an exchange (Change of scene)_

* * *

When Piper, Junko and Finn walked into the Condor half an hour later, they were met by an anxious looking Stork, who's eye twitched in annoyance upon seeing the pieces of metal Junko had dragged back into the hanger bay "What, have you done to your skimmers?" he asked with a nervous twitch as he looked at Piper and Junko's dented rides; he was a genius at fixing things but he was rather annoyed at fixing the teams skimmers constantly, especially Finn's.

"We came across some leecher crystals in Cyclonian territory, they made us crash, we should be thankful we crashed on a terra and not in the wastelands" Piper said with a tired sigh as she sat down on a nearby chair and raked a hand though her mussed up hair; Junko had used his knuckle busters to fling her and Finn over the cliff, before sending their skimmers after them (One nearly squashed Finn) before the blonde marksmen threw down a rope that he had in the compartment of his skimmer for his friend and hauled him up.

"Has there been any word from Aerrow?" Finn asked sounding hopeful as Stork turned away from the broken vehicles for a moment before he shook his head.

"Nothing, the Condor's been as quiet as a graveyard" the Merb said as he scratched nervously at the back of his neck. The blonde exchanged a look with Junko and Piper who bit her lip in worry, Stork noticed the looks and his eye twitched again.

"Where IS Aerrow anyway?" he asked. The three exchanged a 'Whose going to be the one to break the bad news' look before Finn and Junko looked at Piper. Taking a deep breath it was Piper who spoke first explaining that Aerrow had gone into Terra Cyclonia alone…

* * *

Aerrow's green eyes locked with Ace's.

The Ex-Talons blood red eyes stared blankly back.

They had been sitting in silence for a round 15 minutes now neither daring to make the first move or speak to each other, Aerrow sat on the steps of the cell, and Ace across from him his ankle aching and his breathing laboured. It seemed that it was going to be this way for a while before the red head sighed "Aren't you going to say anything?" he asked looking and feeling rather exasperated; the man was stubborn all right, he hadn't said a word to him since he asked him why he hadn't completed his mission and killed him.

The Dark Ace snorted at this; he wasn't going to tell the red head anything he didn't need to know, like his feelings for the red head…ESSPECILLY his feelings. "I have nothing to say to you" he replied simply "Your wasting time Aerrow you might as well just leave" he said softly.

The red head was silent for a moment "You should know me well enough by now that I'm not going to leave just because you want me to, your hiding something from me and I'm going to find out what it is even if I have to sit here all night, it's not as if any talons will find us, what with the whole terra being deserted" he said with a shrug "There's just you, me and Snipe who's currently unconscious"

Ace stared at Aerrow when he said that; Terra Cyclonia was…empty? What the hell was Cyclonis thinking in leaving her home unprotected like that? "I…see" was all he could say to that he shifted his body a little and winced as his ankle jolted in pain because of that movement.

Aerrow saw this and those green eyes softened a little and Ace hated it, he wanted to snap at Aerrow, to force him to leave so he couldn't see the pity in the boys eyes; Aerrow wasn't supposed to feel sorry for him, he was supposed to hate him. "Why the hell are you here Aerrow? What do you have to gain from being here?" he asked with a growl; he wanted the pitying look to leave the boys face, he preferred it when the boy was looking at him with what he thought was loathing.

The red head blinked at that surprised before he looked away and was silent for a moment; he really didn't know how to answer that question without it sounding like a damn love confession "I'm here because of coincidence, I told you before i didn't know you were locked up, Snipe was the one that blurted it out you were branded a traitor as for what to gain? I didn't come here to gain anything," the red head said softly.

Ace growled, the boy was avoiding his questions _'Just like your avoiding his'_ Axara pointed out with a snicker _'Your both as bad as each other'_ Ace felt like smacking his head into the wall next to him but he decided not to lest Aerrow think he'd finally gone insane.

Ace looked up at the boy and sighed; the red head wasn't going to leave until he said something to the boy; he was going to lie about his reasons and hope Aerrow didn't figure out that he was deceiving him, he figured it wouldn't be too hard, after all he was older and more experienced at lying; you wouldn't know it but the Dark Ace had a mean poker face.

"If you MUST know why I didn't kill you, it was because I couldn't" he said before he mentally smacked himself; he had NOT wanted to say that! Why the hell did that come out of his mouth, he was supposed to lie damn it! _'Just face the music Ace, you can't lie when your looking Aerrow in the eyes, just like you could never do with me'_ Axara said in his mind.

Ace mentally shuddered; he hated to admit it but Axara was right; the boy looked so much like his father except for those eyes, and it was those that haunted his sleep every damn night; how the hell could he lie to them? Aerrow blinked at this and just watched the man; he seemed to be mentally wrestling with himself "Um, and WHY couldn't you"? He asked curiously, wondering if the man would say any more than that.

Ace was silent and kept his head down, if he looked at the boy it would all come spilling out without it wanting to; he squeezed his eyes shut; just what was it about Aerrow that made him have his guard down? What was it that made him literally sacrifice his own life to save Aerrow's? "It didn't seem right" he said not looking at Aerrow "It seemed rather cowardly to kill you in your sleep so I didn't do it, its as simple as that" he responded before he looked up at Aerrow "So now you know, are you going to let me out of this hell hole or not?"

The red head blinked; he'd gotten his answer sure but…he had a feeling that somewhere along the line Ace was lying to him somewhere, he wasn't sure what was the truth and what was a lie. Even so he really didn't want to spend all night here arguing with Ace, not only that the others were probably freaking out about where he was too. He sighed, whether the man had lied to him or not, he couldn't leave the man here any longer; he looked like shit and it was hard to look at the man like this; even though Ace was-HAD been his enemy Aerrow had a respect for him too as a fighter; Ace was a Cyclonian but he never fought dirty against him and he never used the other talons against him it was just them against each other and their blades.

Aerrow rolled his eyes at the mans words and smiled in amusement; the first smile he'd shown Ace since he'd arrived; Ace had to admit the redhead looked 10 times more cute when he smiled. _'He does doesn't he? Ah no wonder your attracted to him he has one of those innocent yet untouchable-but-must-be-corrupted auras'_ Axara said with a snicker but Ace ignored him, as Aerrow chuckled "Alright, alright, jeez you complain worse than Finn when he has to do chores" he said as he flexed his fingers of his arm; it was still rather unresponsive at time but the numbness was slowly wearing off.

The red haired teen stood and walked over to the dark haired man, he wrapped one arm around Ace and gently hauled him to his feet; Aerrow almost fell over to one side in surprise of how light the older man now was; he'd lost a lot of weight being confined down in the cells.

The moment Aerrow came close to him, to wrap an arm around him and pull him up Ace could smell his scent; a mix of strawberries and something that was just plain Aerrow and it made him want to groan; no person should smell that good, no one, especially not Aerrow, but by Atmos, the teen's scent filled his senses and it made him light headed; whenever they'd fought he'd always been too occupied with their fights to notice the scent, especially when they fought in the air but now…there was no fight, no clashing of blades or harsh words, nothing to distract him from the wonderful smelling teen next to him and it was driving him crazy.

Aerrow however was oblivious to the man's mental struggle as he helped him out of the cells and looked around; he didn't want to drag the man back to the Condor looking the mess he was, even he knew Ace wanted to gather up a what little pride he had, the least Aerrow could do was let him get washed and changed before he took him back to the Condor. "Ace you hav-had a room here right? Can you tell me where it is?" He asked as they reached the top of the dungeon steps and looked around not really knowing where to go next.

Ace looked at Aerrow and regretted it; the boy was close to him, FAR too close; The older man could feel the teen's red hair brushing against his cheek lightly, and he could see the tiny flecks of gold in Aerrow's emerald eyes he was that close; he didn't think he could deal with having the teen being in his personal space for much longer before he snapped and pinned Aerrow to a wall and tired to take him, regardless of his injuries. The dark haired man looked away and nodded, he gave Aerrow directions though he didn't look at him and he tired hard not to breathe in the Aerrow's direction.

Aerrow said nothing he just followed the directions down the dim corridors until he reached a small door it was plain and black just like all the other doors in the long dark hallway; Aerrow reached out and twisted the door handle and was surprised when he found it unlocked.

The room had been stripped bare; what little Ace had left in the room had been taken out and dumped into a small box in the corner, everything else was empty and plain. The red head looked around the room with its grey walls, dark flooring and the plain furnishings; were all the Talon dorms this depressing? He sighed as he dragged the man to the bed and set him down without a word before he went to the bathroom and flicked on the light before he began running a bath for the man.

The dark haired man flopped sideways on the bed feeling like shit but he was very glad Aerrow had moved away from him, he took a few deep breaths of air that DIDN'T smell like the read haired teen, as he get control over himself, before said red head came back a few minutes later. "Come on" he said as he helped him up again and dragged him to the bathroom were a nice hot bath was waiting for him.

Ace could have kissed Aerrow right then; he hadn't had a bath or wash of any sort in weeks; he knew he stank like a sewer and he bet Aerrow knew too but the boy thankfully hadn't said anything about it and Ace was grateful. "Um…do you need a hand?" Aerrow asked softly as he tried hard not to flush at the thought of seeing Ace naked before he mentally slapped himself; the man had been beaten up and starved for god's sake! How could he think of Ace like that right now?

The dark heard man seemed to sense the others embarrassment in the question and he almost growled at the boy at the question; He didn't understand what that embarrassment stemmed from, he only knew that such a question grated on him; he might be injured but he wasn't incompetent! Ace merely shook his head "I'll be fine" he ground out as he pulled from Aerrow's grip and leaned on the tub.

Aerrow nodded but said nothing he merely shut the door and waited outside with a sigh he looked around Ace's room and suddenly felt depressed; is this what Ace gave up being a Storm Hawk for? An empty depressing room, and to be Cyclonis's lap dog, only to be thrown away when he wasn't any use anymore? The red head sighed; he never thought he'd see the day when he actually felt sorry for Ace.

The red haired teen head faint splashing sound from the tub and knew Ace got in it okay; he was worried seen as it looked like is ankle was broken. Aerrow spotted the box in the corner and blinked before he looked at the bathroom; Ace wouldn't know if he took a peek inside the box would he? He'd always been curious as to the man's past but he never thought he'd have an opportunity to find out.

Aerrow took one last look at the bathroom door before he tiptoed over to the box and opened the flaps before he looked inside; there wasn't much; a few crystals, some of Ace uniforms, a few books; as he rummaged deeper he found a thick book, it looked a like a photo album. Curiously Aerrow started from the back of the album and almost smiled as he saw a photo of the original Storm Hawks including his father smiling back, even Ace was smiling in the picture, he looked so young and happy as well; he never thought he'd ever see Ace smile with such kindness.

Aerrow looked thought he photos completely absorbed; he forgot this wasn't his to see, he forgot Ace was in the bathroom and could catch him at any moment, instead he sat there and flicked through the photos, each one a faded memory, but at the same time it seemed like they were cherished ones; each one had been carefully put into this album, not one photo was bent at the corners, or torn or smudged, and it confused Aerrow; if Ace cherished the memories of the original Storm Hawks so much, then why did he betray them? He shook his head at that as he looked though more pictures he saw a lot of pictures of the original Storm Hawks with other Sky knights as well, hell he almost fainted when he saw a picture of a young Starling and Ace grinning and making V signs for the photo.

Aerrow would stop looking through them, he was almost lost in his own little world until he heard the plug come out of the bath, jerking to life Aerrow slammed the album shut and shoved it back in the box, he grabbed one of Ace's old uniforms as an afterthought.

By the time Aerrow did that Ace opened the door and painfully limped out the bathroom a towel around his waist. The older man blinked when he saw Aerrow standing there a flush on his face and clutching one of his old Cyclonian uniforms. Ace stood there not sure what to say or do; how the hell did you cope with a situation like this? The situation as a whole was weird; only months ago they were enemies fighting to win, to kill and now…now everything had changed.

Ace wasn't sure whether it was for the better.

"Are you going to cling onto that forever?" he asked making Aerrow blink and flush even more, he hadn't realized how tightly he was holding onto it. The dark haired man had to bite his tongue hard to resist asking Aerrow if he was tempting him on purpose, even though it was obvious Aerrow had no idea just how cute or tempting he looked. The red head shook his head and handed it over, not looking the man in the eye.

When Ace dropped the towel to get dressed Aerrow turned around fully lest the man see to accompany his very bright blush he had a semi-erection. Aerrow managed to force it down by the time Ace had dressed by occupying himself with the task of finding the fist aid kit to see if it had something for Ace's ankle; the other cuts and especially his black eye didn't look as bad now the man was clean.

When he arrived back Ace was dressed but the uniform didn't look right on him; it was too loose and baggy around his chest and waist because of his weight loss but the red head didn't comment as he opened it "Show me your ankle" he ordered as he sat on the floor while Ace took the bed.

The dark haired man raised an eyebrow at that order but said nothing, he merely complied with the boys request, he was after all in no fit state to fight Aerrow off and he had a feeling if he protested Aerrow would be like his father and stubbornly do it anyway. He watched as Aerrow's slim fingers unwound a bandage and began wrapping it around his foot; the older man almost shivered at those graceful fingers brushing against his skin; how could such a simple gentle touch affect him like that? He just didn't understand why he held such a sick fascination with the son of a man he despised.

"Done, as long as you don't do something stupid like run, your ankle should be okay until we can get a cast on it" Aerrow said, more to break the uncomfortable silence that had stretched between them more than anything as he put everything back in the first aid kit and stood, Ace nodded at the boys words and stood as well and tested his ankle; it still hurt but with the bandage supporting him it felt a hell of a lot better.

"So what now?" he asked Aerrow who said nothing, he merely gestured at the man to follow him, which Ace did but not before picking up the box with his things in first, it was obvious one way or another he was leaving Cyclonia for good and there were some things in that box that were too precious to leave behind. Aerrow walked to the hanger bay where his skimmer was parked, there were a few other spare talon skimmers lying around as well. Radarr had been sitting in the co-pilots seat when he saw Aerrow approaching he jumped on him and clung to his back like usual which made Aerrow laugh.

Ace listened to the sound; the boy's laugh was smooth and light, it wasn't deep like his fathers, though Ace knew, as the boy grew older it probably would. "I'll ask again, what now?" he said looking at Aerrow; in his opinion the boy held all the cards, after all he's rescued him from a prison and allowed him to get washed and dressed and had fixed his ankle, he was in the boys debt at the moment as much as he didn't like to admit it.

"That's up to you" he said softly smiling as Radarr just noticed Ace and squeaked hiding behind Aerrow's shoulder "There's two choices…well three really, You can stay here and wait for Snipe to find you, you can get a skimmer and leave yourself, or you can come with me" He said looking at the man; he wanted Ace to come with him on the Condor; he was no use to Cyclonis anymore and he has no reason to come back here but it was Ace's choice, he wasn't going to force him either though he had to admit, he would be rather sad if the man disappeared off the face of Atmos without a word.

Ace looked at Aerrow; so the boy had been serious when he said he might let him go! Ace looked between Aerrow and the skimmers; his modified skimmer would be around somewhere; if he were taking any skimmer of any sort it would be his. The dark haired man thought about his options for a long time; come back on the Condor with guaranteed glares and loathing from everyone but Aerrow but be safe and avoid the council, or grab a skimmer and make a run for it, and see how far he got before he was caught.

When Ace turned towards the skimmers his felt his heart sink; he'd been hoping…

Aerrow shook his head and mentally slapped himself; Ace betrayed the original Storm Hawks, he destroyed the Condor and killed his father, why would he join with him? No doubt Ace HATED him, even Aerrow knew that, the man was probably being polite due to the fact Aerrow was helping him. The red head sighed as he slipped onto his skimmer and Radarr hopped into his co pilot's chair and revved the engine preparing to leave.

The dark haired ex-talon drove out next to him a moment later in his modified skimmer "Are we going or what?" he asked with a raised eyebrow and the faint hints of a smirk and Aerrow blinked at him dumbstruck, hardly daring to believe it.

Ace was coming with him!

The red head was speechless, Ace was going to be with him on the Condor and he didn't have to force him? Aerrow was wondering whether Ace had hit his head while down in the dungeons, but he didn't say anything out loud, he just smirked and revved his engine before racing out the hanger bay and popping open the skimmer's wings as both he and Ace flew out of Cyclonia and back to the Condor.

* * *

The end... Nah I'm just kidding XD)

* * *

When Aerrow arrived back on the Condor, the moment he stepped off his Skimmer he was tackle hugged by the whole group, EVEN Stork "Aerrow we were so worried about you man!" Finn said as he hugged Aerrow tight. The read head laughed and squeaked, when Junko picked all four of them up and hugged them "Junko we can't breathe!" he said half panting from lack of air and half laughing.

Ace landed in the hanger bay to one side and watched this; Aerrow was obviously cared about by every member of his crew; this was Aerrow's family now he supposed. Junko laughed sheepishly and set them all down and ruffled Aerrow's hair, it was only after Aerrow assured him that he was perfectly fine did they notice Ace.

"Dude! What the hell is HE doing here?" The blonde said as he pointed dramatically at Ace, in an instant everyone but Aerrow had their weapons drawn ready for a fight, but Aerrow stood in front of Ace almost blocking him from view which made Ace blink; when had the boy gotten so tall?

"Whoa! Guys calm down!" he said softly "He's not our enemy anymore" he said before he explained about Ace being in the prisons, even this explanation didn't seen to calm Finn or Junko down, the blonde walked up to Aerrow and tried to drag him away from Ace as if the older man was diseased "Dude! He destroyed the ORIGINAL Strom Hawks, He killed your DAD, and now your letting him stay here! Are you out of your mind!" Finn said one hand clutching the red heads arm the blondes blue eyes looking into Aerrow's green ones worriedly.

Aerrow looked at Finn and shook his head "No I'm not, I told him he could join us seen as he has no where else to go, if anyone here has a problem with that, tough I'm not changing my mind, either live with it or leave" he said softly and the whole group tensed; Aerrow had never given them that sort of ultimatum before; as if any of them would leave; they were Aerrow's friends and they loved each other like family. Finn flinched at the soft words as though they'd been made of ice as he let the red heads arm go, hurt in Finn's blue eyes. No one said anything as Aerrow gestured at the older man to follow him, no one moved until they were both gone, as soon as they left they started talking; Had Aerrow snapped, was he being controlled? Aerrow didn't stop to find out what they were saying; he didn't want to know.

The dark haired talon looked around the ship; it hadn't changed much at all it was still the same Condor he himself used to travel on with the others, and he supposed he'd be doing the same now, he glanced at the boys back as he followed him. When Aerrow stopped suddenly he almost bumped into the back of the boy but managed to stop short "This is your room" he said softly as he opened the door to let the man inside.

Ace stepped inside and looked around; this room he had to admit was more cheerful than the one he had on Cyclonia, ironically enough this had been his old room when he'd been a Storm Hawk as well, it seemed someone had changed the wall colour to a warm red colour and Ace found he liked it.

The older man nodded as he looked around before he looked back at Aerrow "So is there anything I should know while I'm here?" he asked with a raised eyebrow; this was Aerrow ship now he knew as much as it would annoy him, he'd have to abide by Aerrow's rules now, and he guessed as the destroyer of the former Storm Hawks there would be quite a few.

The red head smirked as he leant on the doorframe "Sure, do whatever you like as long as its not killing and injuring anyone, don't freak Stork out, don't go in Pipers room alone, she's adamant about that at the moment seen as she has a shipment of furnace crystals in there, and don't shirk your chores, other than that go nuts" he said with a shrug.

Ace blinked at that; that was it? No locks on the doors? No handcuffs? No surveillance? There was nothing to stop him from getting his sword from his skimmer and killing everyone on the ship if he really wanted to; either Aerrow really had gone insane, or he was putting all his trust into him and Ace didn't know whether to be scared about this second chance or be grateful.

The red head pushed from the door frame after a moment and smiled as he watched the realization sink into the man "I'll leave you alone for now, Pipers making supper it should be ready in 15 minutes or so, do what you have to, then come to the kitchen when your ready" he said softly before he left Ace alone, left him to let it fully sink in that he had once again become a Storm Hawk.

* * *

Okay now I really AM done I'm sorry it took so long to get this chapter out, I started writing it and then hit a writing block, but recently I've been inspired to finish this chapter so here you go! Want more? I'm guessing so right? I guess you'll have to click that blue/purple button and review wont you?

By the way Axara'a role in this chapters pretty minimal, Ace doesn't need his conscience much if he had Aerrow to keep him on the straight and narrow XD Hopefully he'll get a bigger role in the next chapter Until next time!

Jade xx


	4. Memories

Revival

Yay! I'm back again! I hope you like this part as I had fun doing this chapter will go on to explain a little of why Ace left the Storm Hawks yet hold them dear or at least one of them in particular! And yes there shall FINALLY be some Ace and Aerrow loving, so if you want more of the same you'll just have to read and review won't you?

Enjoy!

Jade xx

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_**Chapter 4: Memories**_

_**Noun-plural:**_

_1. The mental capacity of retaining and reviving facts and events, or of recalling previous experiences._

_2. The reputation of a person or thing after death i.e.: 'a ruler of a beloved memory'_

* * *

_"Ace why! I know we never used to get along, but…you killed them, all of them! Why!? I thought they were your friends!" Axara screamed at him tears were running down his face and mixing with the blood that was already there on his face; it was funny, he'd never seen the red haired man cry over anything before, but this...this had hurt him, it had struck a nerve inside him it seemed, and Ace was glad of it, now he'd finally be free of his burdens, he'd finally be free of Axara for good._

"_Why? Because Master Cyclonis is the one that will lead this world Axara, and I want to be on the right side when that happens" he said with a sneer; that wasn't the only reason, there were others, the fact he hated Axara more than life itself was another factor._

"_But why? If you had just killed me I would understand but Aeria!? Junai? Art? You killed your friends Ace! Why them? They fucking trusted you!" Axara said as he gripped a hold of his arm, which was bleeding heavily, his left leg was also bleeding heavily and he was slumped to one side._

_Axara's former co-pilot inspected the blade he'd stolen from Axara and smirked "Why? Because trust is overrated, friendship and love is overrated, the only thing you can rely on in this world is ones self, and that Cyclonis will rule this world, its just a pity you won't be here to see it" he said before he cut the man through without any hesitation._

_Axara said nothing as he was run through he just let it come his brown eyes didn't hold any loathing or hatred towards Ace, only pity and sorrow "Your wrong" he croaked softly "One day you'll realize…you made the wrong choice…Dark Ace" he said before he slid off the sword and died, the pool of blood quickly spreading around him and falling off the edge of his skimmer._

_Ace sneered as he strapped the sword to his back, he ripped out the controls of the skimmer before jumping onto a talon skimmer that was nearby by and smirked as he watched Axara and his skimmer fall into the wastelands "Somehow Axara, I doubt it" _

* * *

Ace snapped awake and blinked as he tried to remember where the hell he was, it took a moment to remember what the faint rumbling and creaking sounds were in the distance and why the room was so hauntingly familiar; the Condor, he was staying on the Condor after Aerrow had saved his ass.

Speaking of Aerrow and the descendants he came from, he hadn't had a dream like that for a long time. 'No, not a dream…a memory, I haven't thought about the past in a long time…'Ace sighed as he swung his legs off the bed and sat up rubbing at his eyes tiredly.

It had been less then a week since he had made the choice to stay with the teenage Storm Hawks and the reception he was given was what he was expected by most of them; Finn gave him looks of utter loathing every time they met more so whenever he was around Aerrow, he was sure the blonde sharpshooter had a crush on the red haired Sky Knight, but he said nothing. Junko also treated him with loathing but it seemed only when it was encouraged around the blonde sharpshooter, Radarr growled at him whenever he wasn't around Aerrow and Stork avoided him at all costs, more than likely because he believed he'd be the ships ruin for the second time.

Piper apart from Aerrow was the only one who didn't treat him with contempt, she wasn't overly friendly to him but she didn't glare at him either, he had a feeling she was being nice only because Aerrow had asked her to. Speaking of the red haired brat, he had hardly seen hide no hair of him all week, and he didn't know why, but he got the feeing Aerrow was avoiding him.

Getting up Ace stretched a little wincing as his spine popped before he sighed; he was getting to damn old for this sky knight/talon commander shit, though like hell he'd say that to anyone else, he stood and went to his wardrobe; currently he was wearing his talon uniform only without the talon symbols all over it; it seemed Piper had spent hours altering the uniform, he was glad she hadn't put a hawk on it as of yet, he didn't feel as though he was a part of the group, more like he was an unwelcome guest.

Sighing he put it on before he sat back on his bed and pondered; it was around 8 am and seen as most of the crew consisted of teenagers he knew from their routine that they didn't get up any time before 10am when Piper knocked them up after she had a shower, then they'd all have breakfast depending on whether or not Junko had or hadn't gone on one of his midnight snack raids, then they'd either pick up a mission or hang around the condor either doing chores, playing games or training.

Ace hated to admit it but he found the routine rather likable, it was nothing like the strict regimes the previous Storm Hawks had, nor the harsh training on Cyclonia but despite that all the teenagers seemed in tip top shape, sure they all did there own separate training but they never trained together as a team, because they really didn't need to; they were family, they held bonds closer that blood and they relied on each other by pure instinct alone.

Ace snorted at his thoughts; friendship and love in his mind was seriously overrated; he had been in love only once, she had been a Storm hawk with the others and was the beauty of the ship, long brown hair and green eyes she, kind and generous to all, she was like an angel that had descended on Atmos.

Only she fell for Axara, the one person he hated more then life.

Her name was Aeria, and she was Aerrow's long deceased mother.

This past love was why Ace was sure he wasn't in love with Aerrow; he had a sick attraction to him yes, but it was only lust and nothing more than that, he knew what love felt like he knew how much it hurt, hurt enough to even kill the women he had loved just to spite the man he despised. Because of this, he wasn't about to make the same mistake of falling for some 15 year old brat.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door Ace blinked before he looked at the clock on the side that Stork had ever so kindly made him and realized it was almost 10am; he'd been so deep in thought he hadn't noticed almost two hours pass "Ace? Breakfasts almost ready if you want some" Piper called through the door before she moved onto go and wake Finn who groaned loudly in response; Ace smirked and mentally counted to ten before a girlish shriek was heard along with a splashing sound; it looked like Piper had chosen ice cold water to wake Finn up with this morning.

Smirking faintly he stood and decided to have a quick shower first before he went for breakfast; this way most of the crew would be gone from the table and he wouldn't have to suffer their glares when he walked into the kitchen. He grabbed his uniform and a towel and headed to the showers; there were two sets on the condor, a male and a female one, of course because Piper was the only girl, one of the boys sometimes took the girls shower if they knew the navigator wasn't going to use it.

As he reached the showers he could hear running water; it looked like someone was already inside. He heard growling and looked down to see Radarr baring his teeth at him while protecting a bundle of Aerrow's cloths Ace took a step back away from the blue creature, more for his safety than Radarr's; he knew from experience how sharp that rodents teeth were and he didn't want a repeat performance.

Sighing he stepped into the female shower, stripping off his boxers before he turned on the spray and began cleaning himself up; if Aerrow didn't want to be near him fine, he wasn't going to approach Aerrow, in fact he was glad of the other's avoidance; he feared the symptoms of his weird attraction would get worse with the red head being in close quarters of him.

Ace blinked out of his thoughts and paused in the middle of shampooing his hair when he realized he could hear singing from the shower next to him; Aerrow could sing? Curiously he pressed his ear to the thin shower wall that separated him from Aerrow and listened to the tune; the boy's voice was faint which meant Aerrow was singing quietly knowing someone else was in the shower next door but he could hear him well enough; the boys voice was soft and gentle and he held all the notes to the tune well; the song Aerrow was singing wasn't one he recognised but it was a rather said one. Ace couldn't stop himself from listening to Aerrow sing; he had a beautiful singing voice, just like…

Ace shook his head and pulled back squeezing his eyes she as he threw a hand out against the wall to keep him steady as he tried to push those memories back, but it was no use; how could he push memories back of his old friends and the women he had loved when, her SON was next to him?

_'Ace! Ace! Guess what!' Aeria said with a wide smile, she had always turned to Ace for advice and loved him as a brother, he had always listened to her and gave her the best advice 'I'm pregnant!'_

"No, no stop, go away" Ace muttered to himself his eyes squeezed shut; he didn't need to see this; he didn't want to remember that day!

_Ace started at her in shock, not sure what to say; how had she gotten pregnant!? As far as he knew she wasn't seeing anyone 'R-really? But how? Who's is it?' He asked concerned; she seemed happy she was pregnant; that could only mean she had been secretly dating someone and that thought broke Ace's heart and hurt more than anything._

"Stop!" he hissed to himself as the other hand tugged at his hair harshly hoping the pain would distract the memories he couldn't seem to stop himself from remembering.

_Aeria smiled her beautiful smile at him and giggled at his shocked expression, not realizing how much this piece of news hurt Ace and not knowing just how much worse she was going to make it. 'How else to do you think I became pregnant?' she said with a little laugh before her smile widened and she flushed a little and rubbed her still flat stomach 'It's Axara's…we…um, we've been dating in secret' she said softly 'I mean I know were both really young to start being parents at only 16, and that we have our duty to protect Atmos but…it feels right to have this baby, he's going to be special somehow'_

Ace felt tears mix in with the warm water that was raining down on him as his hand that was pressed against the wall turned into a fist.

_Ace was heartbroken, he felt dead when she said she was dating Axara; he felt so much rage well up in him, and so much hurt at that, but he squashed it down; he wouldn't ruin her mood, not now, he still loved her too much then to think of doing such a thing. 'How do you know it will be a he?' he asked smiling weakly._

_Aeria looked up at him and smiled 'It's just a feeling I have, I believe I'll have a son and when he's born he'll look just like his father, he'll be kind and brave and just as cute as me' she said with a little laugh 'I've been thinking about names but…I decided, I want you to name him Ace'_

_Ace stared at her in shock before he swallowed down the bitterness and loathing he felt for the spawn of Axara growing in Aeria's belly; he didn't want to name that thing, he didn't even want a part in it's life, but Aeria had asked him to do it and he would, for her he'd give that child a name. It only took him a few moments for him to decide on the name then and there; it was a name that was beautiful like his mother, but held the symbolism of how he felt; like a painful arrow had stabbed his heart. 'Aerrow…if he's a boy name him Aerrow' he said softly. (1)_

Ace blinked out of his thoughts then they were gone in an instant and for a few seconds he didn't understand why, until the pain in his fist caught up to his brain, he turned and noticed he'd slammed his fist so hard into the tiled wall he'd gone right through it. Gently he pulled his hand out and grit his teeth in pain; yep he'd defiantly broken a few fingers and more doing that.

A moment later there was a gentle knock on the shower door "Are you okay in there?" that's was Aerrow's voice and it held an air of uncertainty, whether it was because he didn't know who was in here or he wasn't sure if he'd heard things or not Ace wasn't sure.

"I'm fine" he grit out with a growl as he clutched his wrist as it bled; some of the tile pieces had cut into his wrist some even still stuck in it. Gently Ace began tugging the broken tile out of his hand. There was silence from Aerrow end for a while and the dark haired man dared to hope that maybe Aerrow had truly gone and left him alone, most of him was glad of that thought, but a part of him wasn't, he wanted to see Aerrow, to pull him in the shower and...Growling softly he pushed the stupid thoughts away as he stuck his bleeding hand under the hot water and hissed.

"Ace open the door" Aerrow said knocking on the door; ah it seemed the brat hadn't left after all, Ace squeezed his eyes shut; he could hear the concern in Aerrow voice, and the worry and Ace didn't like it; he was too much like her, too much like his mother; all this time he thought he'd end up like Axara but it seemed he only gotten Axara's looks, his personality was like his mothers; willing to give him a second chance, willing to trust him, to be kind to him.

He didn't know what was worse; Aerrow having the kindness of his mother or the looks of his father.

"Ace please, open the door, I know something's wrong" that was Aerrow again and Ace sighed softly; the brat was stubborn that was for sure, and that was a trait all of his own. Turning he faced the door before he waited a moment, then unlocked the door and opening it a few inches so Aerrow could see him and vice versa.

Aerrow was looking up at him innocently; he was wearing nothing but his jeans and a towel around his neck; his body was still soaking wet from the shower and his hair had slumped what with all the water that was still in his hair, in his hands he was clutching a first aid bag; it looked like Aerrow had dressed in a rush still soaking wet, to get him a first aid kit "Uh did you hurt yourself or something? I heard a smashing sound and…" Aerrow cut himself off and ended it with a little shrug, his face flushed.

Ace just stared and clinched his uninjured fist as he felt his want for the teen rising; how the hell did he do it? How could Aerrow almost break his resolve just by innocently being the way he was? It was driving Ace insane and he didn't know how much longer he could resist the urge to just give in to what he wanted "I think I broke my hand" he blurted out honestly; he couldn't lie to those eyes.

Slowly he slid his broken hand out of the door for Aerrow to see, who's eyes widened "Wha- Ace what did you do!?" he said in shock when he saw the black, bruised and broken hand. Ace said nothing in response so Aerrow got to work he opened the first aid kit hurriedly and began pulling out everything he needed before he began patching Ace up.

The older man watched him work, watched how his eyes dulled every time Ace hissed or jerked in pain, watched how his warm, gentle fingers held his hand as he rubbed cream on his wounds, before he splint his fingers and bandaged it up. "There, I'm not really good at this but, it should hold for a few days until we can get you something decent" he said softly as he finished patching Ace up "Uh…how does it feel?" he asked softly.

Ace tried the bandage moving the fingers that weren't broken before he nodded "It's fine" he said softly just wishing Aerrow would leave now, leave him alone so he could collect himself and get changed in peace, but Aerrow didn't move, something seemed to be stopping him "What?" he asked.

The red haired teen blinked, as if he'd just come out of some sort of trance and flushed bright red "Um sorry!" he said with a squeak, that made Ace chuckle; he never know Aerrow could squeak like a little mouse, it was rather cute.

"What for?" he asked with a little purr his blood red eyes darkening in colour, before he knew what he was doing he reached out and yanked Aerrow through the shower door by his jeans and pinned him to the tiled wall on the inside of the shower.

Aerrow squeaked again in surprise at this and shivered as Ace trapped him in close quarters, those red eyes burning into him, into his soul. When the red head realized Ace was still naked in here he flushed even more, but he couldn't stop his eyes wandering over Ace's wet, defined chest and his sight wandering a little lower…or they would have if Ace hadn't growled softly and tipped Aerrow's head up so Ace's green eyes were looking at him, there faces inches from each other.

The red haired Sky Knight's heart was thudding loudly in his chest, so loud and so fast he thought it might burst, he was panting softly and those green eyes were scared, but also excited as Ace moved a little closer, his uninjured hand cupping Aerrow's soft cheek, the older man's calloused fingers stroking at the warm, wet and soft skin under his fingertips.

Ace was fighting himself; fighting the urge to just kiss Aerrow, slip off those jeans and take him for himself, take that beautiful body he knew the red head had as his own as he stared into those green eyes that haunted him; god he was hard just thinking about it and yet he still fought the urge; this was wrong, Aerrow was 15! He was male and he was underage.

So why did he want to do it anyway?

"A-ace?" Aerrow whispered wondering what the older man was doing, Aerrow was fighting himself as well, the urge to kiss the older man to see what it was like, to see what Ace tasted like he'd dreamed about, but he stopped himself; would Ace get angry if he did? Would he push Aerrow away?

The older man said nothing as he realized the simple truth of the matter; he couldn't resist Aerrow, he couldn't stop his obsession with the green eyes and red hair. The hand that had been on Aerrow's cheek slid to the back of Aerrow's head and he gripped a hold of the fiery red locks gently before he pulled Aerrow close, their bodies pressing together as Ace finally gave in.

Aerrow's eyes widened and Ace kissed him before he moaned softly into it and his eyes fluttered shut, the red head had never been kissed before and didn't know what to do in response, his hands blindly came up and gripped a hold of the older man's arms as the Ace purred in satisfaction and slipped his tongue eagerly into that sweet little mouth, almost melting as he tasted something sweet that was just purely Aerrow.

Ace's other hand was already wandering all over the teens body down to his waist then around to the red heads ass and he pulled Aerrow's hips closer to touch his and growled in pleasure when he felt Aerrow's erection through his jeans.

The red head whimpered softly at this as the older man ravished his mouth; Ace tasted like a mix of coffee and cinnamon and something that was just him, and Aerrow found it addicting, as his tongue played with Ace's slowly at first but easily picking up confidence and becoming a little bolder

Ace moaned into the kiss at that; he would have taken Aerrow then and there and fuck the consequences…if Radarr hadn't bitten his ankle at that precise moment. "Ah! Fuck!" he yelped as he pulled away from Aerrow; whatever spell or trance they had been under, broke in an instant as the blue creature continued to latch onto his ankle.

The red haired teen slumped back panting and flushed before he noticed Radarr "Radarr no! Get off him!" he said with a squeak as he knelt down and pried Radarr off the others ankle, which was now beginning to bleed. Radarr let go of Ace as soon as Aerrow went to grab him and he sat at his place on the teen's back before growling heavily at Ace its eyes narrowed; in Radarr's opinion Ace had been too close to his friend.

Aerrow sweatdropped before he pet the creature on the head to try and soothe him "Easy Radarr, its okay" he said as the blue haired creature stopped glaring daggers at the older man and in face started purring at the touches. The red head kept doing that while he looked at Ace then flushed again before he averted his eyes; there was a long awkward silence between them for a few minutes before the red haired teen spoke first "Uh, yeah I'll go now, the bite on your ankle doesn't seen to bad…" he said before he turned and ran out of the bathroom with Radarr like a the hounds of hell were chasing after him.

Ace let him go, the pain in his ankle a good enough deterrent to stop himself from trying to jump Aerrow again, instead he slump back against the tiles and rubbed his face with his uninjured hand; this was not going to end well; with Aerrow around, all the memories he had ran away from were coming back and at this rate he was going to be taking Aerrow's virginity by the end of the week.

Sighing softly he looked down at his injured hand that Aerrow had so kindly bandaged up for him before he finished showering and dressed wrapping up his bleeding ankle as he went; he had things to do and even thoughts of Aeria and her son wouldn't get in his way of his thoughts. Ace skipped breakfast and got to work on his chores trying to use them as a distraction but it wasn't working well as Aerrow's face popped into his head and he growled in annoyance.

He wasn't in love with the red head, it was nothing more then lust he held for Aerrow, Ace continued to run that though his head winding himself deeper and deeper into his denial until he believed it to be true, there was only one person he had ever loved in his life.

And Aerrow had her eyes.

* * *

(1) If some people didn't know, Aerrow's name is a mex is a mix of Aero (Air) and Arrow; Aeria means 'sky' so it's a fitting name for her son in Ace's opinion.

Okay so how do you like it? I bet no one was thinking that Ace loved Aerrow mother! And that Ace named him either! XD I love giving you guys cliffhangers it's great! Anyway Ace is still in denial, but how long for? Only time will tell! So read and review! Until next time!

Jade xx


	5. Confrontation

Hello! Yep I am BACK people! Chapter 5 is FINALLY up after a month long hiatus of writers block! In a sudden bout of insomnia and inspiration at 6 in the morning I ended up finishing this chapter in ONE day! I really enjoyed writing this! So read, enjoy and review!

Jade xx

* * *

Chapter 5: Confrontation

* * *

Aerrow was avoiding him.

Ace was well aware of this fact; the red head had been avoiding him since the incident in the showers; every time he and Aerrow was in the same room, the red head would stutter an excuse, get up and leave the room red faced and eyes looking at the floor.

Everyone seemed to have noticed the red heads behaviour and all found it odd to say the least, surprisingly enough it was Finn who accused Ace of doing something to Aerrow first "Come on! Don't play dumb! It's you he's avoiding!" the sharpshooter snapped; he was obviously too worried about Aerrow to care about his own safety because Ace was very close to losing his temper and punching the blonde prick out.

"I don't know why! If you haven't noticed I haven't BEEN anywhere NEAR Aerrow!" he growled out after the blonde asked this for the 5th time. Finn frowned; he knew he shouldn't be pushing his luck, especially with someone like the Dark Ace but he was worried about Aerrow; he'd tried to talk to his friend about it only to receive nothing more than a few words before being brushed off.

The blonde scowled to himself; he didn't like being pushed away, especially by someone as open and honest as Aerrow was; it just wasn't like the red head to be so closed off from everybody. "Fine if you DO find out what's wrong, tell me" he said before he turned and left feeling frustrated but trying not to show it.

Ace growled and threw the book he'd been trying to read before the annoying blonde had come into his room on his desk, and raked a hand through his hair in irritation; just because he had kissed Aerrow in the showers, the redhead was avoiding him, and the rest of the team presumed he'd threatened the red head or something. Ace snorted; if they knew Aerrow half as well as he did, they'd know that the red haired teen could take care of himself in bother a physical and verbal battle.

'_If that's true, then why are YOU worried'_ Axara piped up in the back of his head; his conscience didn't have much to say these days but he had brought up a valid point; despite himself he was actually WORRIED about Aerrow and he didn't like it, the feelings he were experiencing around Aerrow were like the ones he felt around Aeria...

Ace shook his head stubbornly; he was NOT falling in love with Aerrow! It was just ridiculous! Aerrow was a little brat! The goddamn spawn of Axara for god's sake! The very man he hated since they had met...

* * *

_"Hey Ace our replacement Sky Knights here…" Art said softly still looking sad, their last Sky knight Ronan had been a great Sky knight and a great friend, it had been hard on all of them when he had died in battle, especially Marie, their mechanic who'd had an attraction to him for a long time. Now after only a week of mourning they were getting a replacement; the war was getting tougher so replacements were being shipped in quickly._

_Ace looked up and the first thing he noticed was the bight red hair; he'd never seen red hair that vibrant before in his life, and he could have sworn it was dyed; the man's cool brown eyes flicked over each member before settling on Ace and in an instant Ace knew he didn't like him "Bit young to be on the team aren't you? How old are you?" he asked. Ace almost snarled at that "My NAME is Ace and I'm 14…" he admitted begrudgingly; he knew he was 2 years to young but Ronan always said someone's talent can outweigh their age, hence why he'd been allowed on the Condor so early._

_Axara started down at him with a slight smirk before he looked at everyone else "Well I'm not any better I only just graduated aged 18…" he said turning away from Ace like he didn't exist as he chatted with the others and Ace grit his teeth before he stood and left, not even Aeria's worried look calmed him down as he stormed to his room._

* * *

Ace was jerked out of his thoughts when he hears a timid knock at his door he looked up and was surprised to see Piper there looking unsure about whether to enter or not, he gave her a wary and annoyed look "Have you come to ask me about Aerrow too?" he asked with a snort as he looked away from the young girl knowing she probably was going to.

Piper was silent for a moment before she shook her head "No…Aerrow's problem is Aerrow's problem, if he wants to deal with it alone we shouldn't pry, besides Finn is just…well, blonde, he wont get the hint until you knock some sense into him…" Piper said softly "Actually I came to ask if you were okay"

Ace blinked at that rather surprised and said nothing.

Piper seemed to think his silence warranted her to explain herself "W-well your always locked in your room and you never really have anyone to talk to" she said softly her face darkening a little with an embarrassed flush "I just figured you might be lonely, I mean you were the bad guy but your not now right? There's no reason why you shouldn't try and be a part of the team"

Ace would have laughed at her had he not known she was actually being sincere by the look on her face "I've already been a Storm Hawk once, what makes you think I want to be one again?" he asked her with a raised eyebrow "Or furthermore what makes you think I want to be around a bunch of bratty teenagers, half of which hate me?" he asked her with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't hate you, and I don't think Aerrow does either, Finn's just being a dork, Junko always follows his lead and Storks being his usual paranoid self, its nothing personal on that front" she said with a shrug "If you want them not to hate you prove yourself, that's why you're here" he said "Aerrow could easily have turned around and flown us straight to Atmosia, you would have been tried and hung a week ago, but Aerrow, and me think you deserve another chance…and I trust his instincts" she said softly "I guess what I'm trying to say is please try? Even if Finn is a jerk and Stork avoids you just try to get along with them and maybe they'll trust you too" she said as she pushed off from the doorway "Oh and dinner is ready if your up to actually EATING with the rest of the crew" she commented before she left.

Ace was silent throughout this before he sighed softly and raked a hand through his hair; eat with the crew huh? Prove himself…Ace chuckled at that though it was bitter, there was no way he'd ever be able to get along with the crew, it was too painful, it reminded him too much of the past and Aerrow…he couldn't get close to Aerrow his resolve had already broken once he couldn't allow it a second time.

Ace sat up from the desk and headed out to the hanger bay; he didn't have his own skimmer and the others had made it a habit of keeping theirs under lock and key, Ace just wanted fresh air, he froze mid step when he saw Aerrow there, his skimmer in pieces and Radarr handing him things; he could tell Aerrow was shirtless as he lay under the Skimmers body "Radarr pass me that big wrench will ya?" he said and Radarr whined in agreement before he handed it over, that was until he sniffed out Ace his eyes fixed on the older man and he growled warningly.

Ace took a step back; he did NOT want another bleeding ankle; he's limped for three days after the incident in the shower he quietly walked around Aerrow a good distance away from Radarr who continued to growl. "Radarr what's up?" he asked as he slid out from under his skimmer his face and chest were covering in streaks of grease, his hands were worse and were still filthy despite wiping them on a rag first in order to pet his friend.

"I believe that would be me" Ace called out before he could stop himself and mentally cursed; so much for avoiding the red head; Aerrow's head spun around so fast Ace feared the boy almost snapped his own neck, he watched the Sky Knight's face change from surprise to a bright red blush before he looked away and pet Radarr. Ace found it bitterly ironic that despite wanting to avoid Aerrow he always found him anyway, or vice versa; it was like fate was purposefully crashing them together whether they liked it or not.

"Oh" Was all Aerrow said as he focused on petting Radarr for a bit before he picked up a random wrench and stuck himself under the bonnet of his skimmer again probably to avoid him some more "Fair enough" he muttered.

Ace raised an eyebrow at that before he walked over when Radarr growled at him he gave him a kick that sent Radarr flying away though it didn't really hurt the creature just annoyed him "Stay out of his" he said to Radarr tired of the shit that rat had put him through, before he slid Aerrow out from under his skimmer "Fair enough? That's all I get for an answer? No questions? No nothing?" he asked as he stared down at Aerrow who frowned a little despite his blush before he kicked Ace's leg away and slid back under his skimmer.

"I have nothing to say" he muttered as he continued working avoiding Ace, and Ace knew he was avoiding him and he was tired of it, tired of this mediocre existence where everyone on this damned ship hated him (Granted for good reason), and the only person that didn't was avoiding even looking at him. Ace growled as he dragged Aerrow out again and this time he stood on the thin trolley Aerrow was lying on, as he knelt down their faces inches from each other.

"That's not good enough" he growled "I'm sick of being avoided by everyone on this ship, especially by you" He said with a slight snarl "Especially after the way you acted that day" he purred, wait he PURRED! He didn't PURR! Oh god Aerrow was getting to him again, they were inches apart, and Ace could smell Aerrow's scent, the mix of grease and Aerrow was intoxicating and again was making him light headed, he knew he should pull away and back off but his body wouldn't let him; it liked being REAL close to Aerrow.

Aerrow blushed and shoved Ace away making him fall on his ass "That day was a mistake" Aerrow said as he stood up and wiped his hands on the rag again more of a lack of something to do than anything "That's all it was a stupid mistake" Ace looked up at Aerrow before he smirked he chuckled softly before it turned into full blown laughter "A mistake…yes your right…of course that's all it was…but let be ask you this Aerrow, who's mistake was it? Yours? Or mine?" he said as he got to his feet.

Aerrow shivered a little goosebumps forming on his skin at the mere memory of that day in the shower being so close to Ace, his touch burning into his skin, his warm lips on his own…The red head mentally smacked himself before he shrugged "Were both to blame" he muttered softly before he stalked off without another word Radarr hopping onto his back the blue creature snarling at Ace as the red head walked away.

Ace sighed and waited until Aerrow was gone before he physically hit his head against the walls of the Condor; he was defiantly getting in too deep; one minute he was saying he'd avoid Aerrow inside his own head and not fall for him, yet his actions stated otherwise, each step led him closer to the teen, and even closer to getting the boy in his bed. "Shit" Ace growled to himself as he squeezed his eyes shut. _'Sounds like your breaking Ace' _Axara chuckled inside his head like an old unpleasant friend that he did NOT need to hear right now

"Shut up" he snarled quietly to himself "I'll fight this as long as I have to…he isn't Aeria…he isn't her" he whispered softly to himself convincing himself trying to spot the differences but it was so hard; if you abandoned the physical differences Aerrow was so much like her at heart, he even gave off the same kind of warmth, yet it was different Ace didn't know how to explain it.

'_What is it with you and members of my family? You going to state you had a crush on ME next?'_ his conscience asked with a chuckle seemingly enjoying Ace's mental struggle as Ace let his forehead press against the cold metal and he closed his blood red eyes with a groan; he couldn't deny it any longer, not even to himself: it was driving him crazy trying to go against the flow of what he wanted and he was tired of it. "You wish" Ace snarled at Axara's question before he pushed away from the wall and looked around; the place was empty and Aerrow's skimmer was only half done.

Ace walked over and picked up the wrench Aerrow had been holding earlier; he might as well finish what Aerrow started, and if he was lucky he could sneak a ride off the skimmer too; oh how he missed flying, he felt very much like a raven trapped in a tiny cage without any freedom and with the hostilities he'd had to suffer, it was no surprise he wanted out and wanted privacy; that was the problem with living on a ship with people; privacy was limited to his room and by Atmos he was sick of the same four walls. He would have ridden his own skimmer but that damned carrier pilot had taken it apart for 'maintenance purposes' and not put it back together yet, so this was his only option.

It took him only half an hour to finished what Aerrow started before he opened the hanger doors and revved Aerrow's skimmer flying off into the sunset feeling the happiest he'd been since Aerrow freed him form Cyclonia's prisons, he was half tempted to fly off and just not go back at all but he then decided against it; he was NOT leaving his stuff behind; if he ever left he was taking his shit with him thank you very much. Ace smiled softly as he did a loop in the sky and just enjoyed himself.

* * *

Mean while on Cyclonia things were NOT so good

For one, Master Cyclonis had returned from her travels across the Atmos to fid Snipe still nursing a large lump on his head, and he had told her that Aerrow of the Storm Hawks had come and taken the Dark Ace from his cell! And Snipe had let it all happen because the oaf had been unconscious! Snipe was bowing in front of her now his knees knocking in fear as she glared at him, Ravess was stood next to Snipe, she felt a little pity for her brother but not much, she was after all a perfectionist by nature and she knew he brother had his flaws that needed to be ironed out.

"Give me ONE good reason why I shouldn't just make you a blood splatter on my wall by letting that traitor escape!" she raged and Snipe swallowed in fear as he shook even more, Ravess felt the pity for her brother increase; he really didn't know how to not show his fear.

"B-because you can still get him back!?" Snipe squeaked "That brat didn't hand Ace into the authorities as far as I know he's still living with Aerrow on the Condor" he said softly, he whimpered a little at the deadly silence that followed until a large pulsating red hand shot out and pinned him to the wall one that Snipe and Ravess were both familiar with.

"Is that so? Well them I'll let the Raptors give the Storm Hawks a little visit, to confirm if Ace really is living amongst them as a Storm Hawks, if so…then once we recapture him I'll subject him to this" the dark haired empress chuckled darkly as she held up a black crystal that pulsated and shone a dark purple glow over her hands "Once this had been used on him he will be perfect...my perfect solider" she purred softly before she burst out into cold mechanical laughter as the red hand that had held up Snipe drops suddenly and the bulky man slumped to the floor.

"Send a message to the Raptors, they are to find and capture Ace, but remember…I want him _alive_" Cyclonis purred, Ravess bowed lowly before she turned and left, Snipe picked himself up off the floor and quickly followed not wanting to be subjected to even a worse punishment. Neither sibling asked what that black crystal was, neither of them wanted to know, lest THEY be subjected to the same fate.

Either way Ace was about to meet a world of trouble.

* * *

Ace didn't come back from his little trip for a good three or four hours until Aerrow's crystal fuel was almost empty, he sighed when he noticed the meter was low; he'd enjoyed just being out in the open air again feeling the wind on his face and doing tricks on the skimmer, but he knew he'd have to go back eventually. When he landed he was 'greeted' by Finn and Junko, neither of them looked too pleased with him. "What do you think your doing? Stealing Aerrow's ride!?" Finn snarled "Why didn't you just leave and do us all a favour!?" Finn asked with a glare.

Ace got off the skimmer as he parked it and he looked at Finn with a raised eyebrow; he didn't feel threatened by the scrawny teen one little bit, which is why he merely smirked smugly as he spoke. "One: I didn't steal Aerrow's ride, I merely borrowed it other wise I wouldn't have brought it back, two; you need to get off my back, I was your enemy, now I'm not, get over your self and accept that fact, and three…" Ace paused at this and smirked knowing this was a low blow but saying it anyway "Get over the fact Aerrow will NEVER want in your pants blondie your not his type, simple as" he said with a smirk.

It seemed Finn was on his last straw and Ace just broke it because the next thing the ex-talon knew was that Finn punched him in the jaw making him stagger back, a little surprised the blonde even had the guts to hit him let alone anything else; Junko squeaked and grabbed his friend trying to avoid a fight breaking put but Finn had already crossed the line.

Ace's eyes burned as he wiped the blood dripping out of his mouth and down his chin "That's right wallop, you hold him I'll punch!" the older man growled as he decked the blonde right back; Finn was not a hand to hand fighter, Ace knew this from experience that Finn was a long range fighter and that he was mediocre at hand to had at best; his punch was weak in comparison to Ace's which knocked the blonde out cold.

"Finn!" Junko squeaked as the blonde sharpshooter slumped in his arms, the wallop gathered him up carefully and ran off with him as if his ass was on fire as Ace growled and licked at his lips; so much for his good fucking mood, he snarled a little and kicked fiercely at random toolbox was in his way, the slight pain in his toe doing nothing to calm is temper down at all as he stormed off to his room and shut the door with a loud bang; the dark haired man didn't care if it sounded like he was having a teenage tantrum he was pissed off, if he didn't stay away from the blonde he'd fucking throttle him.

No one saw from Ace for the rest of the night and that was perhaps a good thing seen as Finn was unconscious for almost two days afterwards; The ex-talon refused to leave his room for those two days telling anyone that tried to approach him (Namely Junko and Piper) to (put bluntly) fuck right off; he didn't want to see anyone he didn't want their apologies or their lectures, he wanted to be alone so he could vent off his anger slowly by taking deep breathes and trying to meditate.

Yes, the great Dark Ace meditated; he'd been doing this since he first turned into a Talon: after killing the Storm Hawks he'd become somewhat a loose cannon, his anger would fly off the wall for little to no reason, the first master, Lark's father forced him to meditate every day to calm himself and it worked up to a point, but everyone had a breaking point, and hitting him for no reason crossed that point, all in all Ace believed the blonde prick deserved it and was satisfied with his work, even if he was still angry.

He was still angry when it turned dark, he decided he couldn't meditate on his anger anymore and a good night sleep would do him some good, he stood and stripped off his cloths dumping them in a corner before he slipped into the small private bathroom and cleaned up before he turned off the lights and revealed in the darkness as he slipped into bed; it was a warm night so he let the sheets rest about his waist as he closed his eyes.

He was awoken not half an hour later aware that there was someone in his room with him; despite the other's knocking on his door about what he did to Finn he had never locked his door, he figured they would all presume he locked it, which they did but he could tell someone was here he could hear them breathing quite close to him actually.

Ace didn't even open his eyes as he grabbed whoever was near him and threw them on his bed before he pinned them there, he heard a squeak of surprise and an 'oof' as the stranger landed on the bed and Ace knew even before he opened his eyes who it was, as a familiar scent invaded his senses. "What are you doing here Aerrow" he growled softly as he opened his eyes…then blinked.

Aerrow was staring up at him ands wearing a little more that his PJ top (Which was unbuttoned and open) and his boxers, which was very…revealing attire to be seeing someone in the middle of the night. The red head blushed a little and looked away, even in the dimness of the room the moonlight from the small circular window being the only source of light, he could tell Aerrow was blushing.

It only hit Ace now that he was here, over Aerrow and pinning the red head down in a rather compromising position and the brat was practically naked in his bed, Ace swallowed; okay maybe this was bad, really bad. "…You punched Finn" the red haired teen said softly breaking the tense silence between them, Aerrow's green eyes burning like green fire under the moonlight "Why?"

"He punched me first Aerrow, it was in self defence and the little prick deserved it, just because I told him the truth and he can't take it, it's no fault of mine" Ace growled softly feeling annoyed that even Aerrow had come to ask him about that little incident, but at the same time he wasn't really surprised; typical of the teen to use a direct approach to ask him this now in his room, where neither could avoid each other.

"Truth? What truth?" Aerrow asked a little confused; obviously Finn had not told the full side of the story, no doubt he claimed he'd punched Finn for no reason and stormed off, he knew Junko wouldn't have gone against his friend the Wallop probably wouldn't have had the heart.

Ace laughed at that, before he realized it was a bad idea, he was breathing in lungful of Aerrow and by Atmos did he smell good right now; he'd had a shower it seemed, Ace could tell because he was clean and his hair was wet looking "You mean you don't even know? Oh Aerrow you're so blind! Its so obvious if you look for the signs" Ace said still chuckling despite himself his red eyes glowing a little in the darkness as he watched Aerrow's face become more and more confused though the Sky Knight didn't move from his spot pinned to the bed and neither did Ace; his body was QUITE happy where it was thank you.

"What are you talking about? Stop it with the riddles you bastard and just tell me" he said with a slight growl, and NOW Aerrow began struggling a little against the older man; Ace growled as their hips brushed together in the slightest of movements. He used more strength to keep Aerrow pinned but he didn't make it uncomfortable for the red head, he didn't want Aerrow to think he had bad intentions…much.

"Your little blonde sharpshooter has it in for you Aerrow, he wants you didn't you notice? His eyes follow you everywhere you go, he's obsessed with touching you or spending time with you…he WANTS you Aerrow and you can't even see it" Ace said with a dark chuckle "I told him you weren't his type, I was just being honest and he punched me for it so I punched him back THAT is the truth" he said with a smirk.

Aerrow's eyes went wide at this as this sunk in; how could he NOT have seen this!? He always though Finn was straight! He'd never seen anything to suspect Finn intentions as anything but friendly and now Ace was telling him other wise and despite himself he instantly believed Ace; he wasn't suspicious of the man at all and he didn't know why; why couldn't he just hate Ace and get it over with? Why did he have hold an attraction to Ace!? (Who by the way, looked sexy as fuck while he was shirtless and on top of him). "I…see" was all Aerrow said as he avoided Ace's eyes for a moment.

"We both know which type you prefer, don't we Aerrow?" he purred in his ear; okay so his resolve to tease and taunt the red head had broken about 5 minutes ago, and he was an inch away from ripping what cloths Aerrow had on, off his body, and pounding the boy into the mattress; he couldn't help it, he couldn't deny it anymore and honestly a part of him never wanted to deny himself.

He was falling for Aerrow, hard and very fast

Or maybe not; he'd known Aerrow for a long time, despite the 10 year period of absence, in total he'd known Aerrow 6 years, 4 years at the start of his life and 2 years ago until now when the boy became a Sky Knight. 2 years is a long time in which to form an attachment to someone even if that person was your enemy.

Aerrow's eyes widened at that and he blushed even more if that was possible; he knew what Ace was talking about but he was still in denial "No" he said as he looked to the side away from the older man, still trying to twist his hands out of his grip. "You don't know anything let me go" he said softly it wasn't much louder than a whisper as he continued to struggle.

Ace refused and tightened his grip on Aerrow though again he didn't grip him so tight he was hurting the red head "Don't I?" he whispered "Tell me this then Aerrow why are you here, wearing almost nothing, and sneaking into my room and watching me sleep? Why do you blush whenever your around me? Why don't you fight!?" he whispered, his face getting closer to Aerrow's, so close, he could feel the teen's small panting breaths against his cheek.

Aerrow swallowed at this and looked away "It doesn't matter" he murmured "Now let me go or I'll call for help" he said softly as he tried to twist his wrist out of Aces grip and squirmed under the ex-talon but that didn't really help either of them; their bodies were too close, it just caused a friction both of them wanted and Ace gasped a little in surprise.

"I don't think you will" Ace said softly "You won't because deep down you WANT this, you want to be under me writhing and naked, your body laid bare for me to do what I want, don't you?" he growled in his ear "You want me all over you and inside you" he whispered.

Aerrow whimpered softly at that and shook his head as he blushed more (If it was possible) but it was obvious he was lying his body was giving him away each moment he was under the older man; every word Ace said was the truth but he didn't want to admit it, he didn't want to admit the dark haired man looked hot hovering over him, didn't want to admit he wanted the older mans lips on his own and those callused hands on his body.

Ace chuckled softly at this; the boy was even more beautiful squirming "Deny it all you want, I wont anymore" he whispered softly before his mouth clashed with Aerrow's with a possessive growl, the red his gasped at that before he moaned softly, it was quiet, contained, but Ace heard it and felt a little triumphant as he let Aerrow's wrists go and moved his hands to Aerrow's open PJ top and slid it off the red head shoulder s as they kissed roughly, Aerrow's mouth parting on its own wanting more as the redhead's green eyes fluttered shut, his slim arm reaching up and wrapping themselves around the older man's neck and pulling him closer with a moan, this one louder then before as Ace eagerly slid his tongue in Aerrow's mouth and devoured his mouth tasting him and enjoying every second of it.

Aerrow was lost, he felt light headed and hazy as Ace dominated the kiss and he let him, moaning softly his body arching a little as he felt Ace's hands wander over his body "Mnmm!" Aerrow moaned sharply as Ace's hands wandered to his boxers and felt a jolt of fear; he didn't know if he was ready for that yet even though he was hard, delving into something like that made him nervous; he was still unsure about how Ace felt about this; did he feel the same as him or was it just about sex?

"Stop" he panted as he broke the kiss, to his surprise Ace obeyed his hand stopping just short of getting down the back of his boxers to his ass, Ace looked at him and moved his hand from there as he sighed softly.

"Too fast for you?" he asked a little amused as Aerrow glared at him, though there wasn't any hatred behind it, just slight annoyance at Ace's smugness and shoved him away a little so he could sit up on the bed feeling annoyed; just because he didn't want to suddenly fuck Ace didn't mean he was weak or anything, he just wanted to be SURE of a few things first.

"Just a little" He admitted softly as he rubbed at one arm absently and looked away almost shyly "I just want to know where I stand with…" he paused trying to find a good word for it and failed "…This" he finished lamely and waved his hands between them.

Ace blinked for a moment then raised an eyebrow as he chuckled "This? Well you tell me Aerrow, I'm not the one that snuck into your room half naked in the middle of the night" he purred out amused as he watched the red head blush more; he had to admit the boy was cute when he did that "If your asking whether this is just about sex the answer is no it isn't" he said knowing that was probably what Aerrow was trying to ask "Its much more then that, though I can't deny I don't want you, believe me I've tried to deny it for a long time…but it was so hard, your just like your mother" he whispered softly.

Aerrow blinked at that surprised at how soft and affectionate those words came out "My…mother?" he said surprised at this; he didn't know all that much about his parents and even less about his mother. The older man nodded at that his face and eyes were soft and thoughtful as he dwelled in the past once again.

Aerrow reached out and placed a warm hand over Ace's "Tell me about them…tell me everything" he said softly; he wanted to know he ACHED to know; years of not knowing practically anything about his parents and now he had the chance to know, now he had an opportunity to learn about them.

Ace stared at Aerrow softly and was silent for a few minutes before he steeled himself took a deep breath and looked at Aerrow "Alright…it's been kept from you long enough…I'll tell you what you want to know…but I'll warn you Aerrow, not all of it is good" he whispered as he reached up and stroked Aerrow's cheek affectionately, before he took a deep breath and started to tell Aerrow everything.

* * *

HAHAHAHAHAHA CLIFFHANGER! Yes I am evil but I've done almost 8 pages today! I was un inspired to do it for weeks on end until I could sleep one morning and finished this off in one day! That's not like me at all but I LOVE this chapter 3 I hope you guys do too! Please read and review and give me youe comments! Constructive criticism always welcome!

Jade xx


	6. Confessions

Yeah I'm finally back! I'm sorry this took so long! After writing the flashback scenes I just got bored of it for a while! But I finished it and I'm sure everyone will like this chapter :3 Enjoy!

Jadexx

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Confessions

-----

_"Ace! Hey Ace! You okay? Are you daydreaming again you goof?" Aeria asked him with a laugh as she poked the younger teen in the head playfully; even though they hadn't know each other long, he and Aeria had bonded quickly, he smiled at her weakly and playfully swatted her away; he thought she was beautiful, a pure angel, a beauty of the skies; he admired her so much because she was kind and brave, as she was pretty and she was so MODEST as well, it was like she was the most perfect being to ever walk the Atmos and he damn near had her all to himself._

_"I wasn't day dreaming I was thinking " the dark haired teen said in a slight playful huff but he was smiling; he could never STOP smiling around her, her energy and personality just brought it out of him. "I was thinking about what I was going to do once we hit Neon, seen as I've never been there before" he said a little sheepishly; his family had been poor and he'd been an only child, he'd never even left his terra until Ronan came along and saw his potential and took him away from such a poor, lonely life, and everyday he was thankful for it, he worked hard for it._

_"I can't believe you've never been Acey" The brunette teen said using her nickname for him (Other than 'dork' and 'goof') which made something flutter in his chest whenever she said it; her green eyes sparkling in amusement "I've been a couple of times once when I was really little and then last year with the crew, it's a lot of fun, I'll come around with you and show you around if you want" She offered with a smile._

_Ace mentally cheered inside his 14 year old brain; this was almost like a DATE "I'd like that, I'd probably get lost otherwise, you know I suck at navigation," he said with a wide grin; if he'd been any other teenager he might have blushed and melted as she playfully patted at his cheeks and ruffled his dark hair "Okay sure thing!" she said with a smile before she hopped up off the table and walked off, Ace's red eyes always watching her as her hips and hair swayed as she walked._

_-----_

_They never reached the Terra._

_Ace cursed every damn talon that decided to intercept them on the way to Neon; couldn't a squad go and have fun for once!? He'd been so close to having a date of sorts with Aeria and the damn Talons had ruined his plans, needless to say the teen was in a foul mood when he and the rest of the team kitted up and he hopped on the ride that he and Ronan shared "You okay brat?" Ronan asked; he was a tall bulky man with short dark hair and grey eyes and was in his mid twenties._

_Ace just growled and nodded as he grit his teeth "Peachy" he ground out as he revved the engine for his Sky knight as she chuckled and pulled on his headpiece "Just fucking peachy" he cussed before he yelped as Ronan swatted the teen over the head._

_"Language" he warned with a slight smirk "Don't worry kiddo, there's always other opportunities for you" he said as he glanced at Aeria as she revved her Heli-scooter with a focused and determined look her long brunette hair tied up in a tight ponytail, she was in full armour and looked ready to set out and kick some Talon tail. The dark haired teen blinked at that unsure as to what he meant before it clicked and he DID blush a little and he turned away from Ronan's knowing grinning look._

_"I dunno what your talking about!" he protested with a huff, Ronan just laughed, muttered something about 'kids these days' and 'young love' before he called out if everyone was ready when eh got the go from everyone they se out. Ace just tried to ignore this as they set out, but his eyes were always fixed on her even in battle try as he might._

_And that's what cost Ronan his life._

_It happened so fast Ace didn't see it coming, he'd been focused to much on watching how Aeria was doing and not crashing into anything, he didn't expect an arrow to come from nowhere and hit Ronan straight through the chest, the crystal tipped arrow had been moving so fast it had melted through his armour and was searing and burning his flash inside as he screamed in agony. Ace naturally panicked and turned straight around and landed on the Condor's hanger bay after screaming over the radio that Ronan had fallen and to fight the remaining Talons off long enough so they could retreat._

_Ronan slid off his ride tugging at the arrow and coughing up blood "G-get it out!" he croaked as blood slipped past his lips, it was obvious the man was in absolute agony as he clawed at his young protégé. Ace shook his head at that; he hadn't really listened to the first aid class he was put on; like most teenagers it went in one ear and out the other, but he did know pulling it out would just leave a gaping hole with which meant the man would lose more blood._

_"I…I can't!" he said his blood red eyes were wide and terrified as well as full of guilt; Ronan was like an older brother to him, maybe even a father and he felt an overwhelming amount of guilt; he should have watched out for Ronan more instead of watching Aeria, it was his damn job to be Ronan's co-pilot and he'd failed._

_Ronan growled before he tore the arrow out himself; he couldn't blame the teen for being so scared; he was technically still just a kid, and it was the first time he's seen anyone so severely injured before especially Ronan; the dark haired man had always seemed so…untouchable. Ace watched in horror as blood squirted from his chest and he hastily put a rag over it and put pressure there to slow the bleeding as he tried to remember what that first aid class had taught him "Just hang on Ronan we'll get you help" he said in a panic still._

_Ronan sighed obviously more relived the still burning hot arrow head wasn't inside him and he let it clatter to one side still sizzling a little from the blood on the tip "Sorry kiddo it's too late for me…It hit my heart and lung at the same time" he said with a croak before he smiled weakly "It's okay brat, this ain't your fault, you cared for her more then me that's not a bad thing…look after her" he said softly before he coughed up more blood as his lungs filled with it._

_The other landed a moment later, Maria ran over already in tears at the sight; she was always fond of Ronan and everyone knew she admired him and no doubt loved him deeply "Keep on, doing what you do best…win the war…defeat the Talons I'm proud of all of you" he croaked softly before his breathing slowed, his warm grey eyes then held so much wisdom and kindness dulled and he breathed his last breath and he died in Ace's arms._

_There was a dead silence as it sunk in that Ronan was dead before Ace screamed, it was a wail of guilt and misery and he clung to Ronan's lifeless body and cried his eyes out like a little child; he wasn't the only one as the rest of the crew burst into tears, human, wallop, male and female alike they all cried in Ronan's passing; he was a kind man, a brave leader and a friend to all, he didn't deserve such a painful death, and despite Ronan's words gut wrenching fear and guilt welled in Ace's stomach and almost overwhelmed him as he set Ronan's body gently on the floor before he stood and started walking._

_"Ace…" Aeria said softly in comforting whisper, her green eyes shimmering with tears she was desperately trying to hold back but in the end they fell down her soft pale cheeks and dripped on the metal floor as she cried to squeeze his shoulder, to reassure him somehow that he wasn't to blame but he did something he'd never done before; she shrugged her off and ignored her he went to his room and closed the door locking it behind him._

_No one saw him for the next two days._

_It was a week before Ace made himself go out of his own room to face the world without one of the others dragging him out for food or a shower, for the first few weeks after Ronan's death it was like Ace was a zombie; he never ate, never slept, he did nothing but skulk in his room looking at nothing trying to feel nothing; occasionally he'd go on a rampage and smash up everything in his room as he screamed in a rage and frustration before he quietened down to choked sobs, no one knew what to do it was so obvious the young teen was taking it harder then the rest, Aeria more then once had tried to soothe him and reassure him that it was okay that it wasn't his fault and it slowly seemed to work as he hugged her tight and cried long and hard on her shoulder, she held him close and stroked his short dark hair softly soothing him like a mother who's child had scraped their knee or had a nightmare._

_Eventually Ace emerged from his room only to meet the man that he came to hate more then any other before, he'd never liked Axara from the moment they met, but what got to him was how Axara would make small little digs at him; nothing much just a comment or two that would grate at him for hours that would test his nerves and make him emotional; the main topic he chose was naturally Ronan, just small digs about how he could have done better or how he would have done something different if HE had been in Aces shoes. The dark haired teenager took it, he grit his teeth and bore it, for months upon months which stretched into years, with the little verbal digs came the physical ones whenever they all sparred; Axara always trained with him and he knew the bastard just loved to beat him half to death and shove his face into the metal floor._

_If it wasn't for Aeria he would had turned and left the Condor and gone home, he would have gone back to his poor ass life rather than put up with this shit, but he didn't because of Aeria, he loved her, he really did, he was sure of it, he loved being around her and he missed her when she wasn't in sight, even though half the time she was only on the other side of the ship. He loved every part of her; her hair, her eyes, he body, her personality, her kindness, her warmth, her strength, her scent…he could go on about her forever he wanted to become closer to her, so much closer but he was scared of rejection; he was emotional enough as it was about Ronan even a year on; he didn't think he could take a rejection even if it was a gentle one that he knew Aeria would give him._

_So he didn't pursue her, not really he just followed her like a lovesick puppy and everyone on the ship but Aeria could see Ace was besotted with her, unfortunately that included Axara._

_When Ace turned 15, Aeria was pregnant with Axara's child and his mood and attitude had reached an all time low, Aeria had asked him to name the child and he had, for her despite how he felt he had; the digs Axara shot at him had changed subjects from Ronan and his failure, to Aeria and how he didn't have the guts to chase her; oh he was subtle, VERY subtle especially in group conversations but the hurtful comment was still there scraping at his patience at his last nerve slowly, oh so very slowly and making him ready to snap._

_Despite all this he kept his temper; he tried so very hard especially as Aeria started swelling up like a balloon; despite himself he couldn't help but be curious about the little baby growing inside Aeria; would 'he' be like Axara, or like Aeria? The dark haired teen prayed to every god he knew of that he'd be more like his sweet mother and not the bastard his father was._

_Even though he hated Aeria being pregnant to Axara he couldn't help but care a little for the baby; he realized as the baby grew inside the brunette women that he loved so much that it was no fault of the child's, still it didn't make it hurt any less and his name for the baby stuck, everyone liked it, even Axara apparently though he was hardly going to ask the asshole for confirmation._

"Ace! Ace come here!" Aeria urged him suddenly; she was seven months gone and had gotten really big; shed once asked him if her looking all fat made her ugly, he'd laughed and shaken his head and said that she was glowing radiantly because of the baby and because she was happy and really despite his hatred for Axara that's all he cared about, that she was happy that even if he wasn't with the beautiful brunette he'd loved for over two years, that at least, she was happy and that Axara at least treated her right. Ace was confused but he sat next to her she took his hand and placed it on her stomach, a moment later he felt a sudden bump and blinked.

_"He kicked!" she said with a laugh as she held Ace's hand as the baby kicked again almost in response to her words. "Isn't that cute? He can hear us, I think Aerrow is trying to say hi" she said with a laugh; Aeria was adamant that her child was a son; like with Ace when the others asked how she knew, she said it was instinctual, she just knew somehow that her baby would be a beautiful boy._

_Ace blinked as he felt the baby kicking and for the first time since he heard she'd gotten pregnant, he actually felt something for this child, for the first time he felt happy that it was being born. "I guess he is" he said with a soft smile "He'll be able to say hi personally soon enough" he said softly._

_Aerrow nodded at that "I know I can't wait, even though its going to be long and painful I can't wait to meet him either" she said softly almost dreamily as she rocked a little in hair chair and began humming a sweet lullaby that could send Ace to sleep let alone the baby._

_The dark haired teen just smiled in response._

_Ace was there when Aerrow was born._

_Weighing 6 pounds and 2 ounces, little baby Aerrow came out into the world with a crop of fluffy red hair from the moment he was born and it was just as bright as his fathers, but what struck Ace was that Aerrow had Aeria's eyes, which alone made the child beautiful. "He's gorgeous, see? I told you he'd be a boy" Aeria said as she cradled her little baby a little tearful and pale after a 7 and a half hour labour._

_Axara was sat next to her he kissed her cheek and stroked her mussed up hair slightly as he smiled down at his son with pride "He looks a lot like you" he said to her softly. Ace stood there and watched trying not to ruin the moment for her she looked so proud and happy, he didn't want to ruin it, he was going to leave but Aeria mad e him stop in his tracks.  
_

_"Acey, don't go yet, come hold him" She urged Ace turned to her surprised at this before he sighed and chuckled a little; he couldn't say no to her, not even if he wanted to. He walked back to the bed and she gently placed the little bundle in his arms, compared to him Aerrow was so tiny and he was surprised when Aerrow opened his big green eyes and stared at him before a small podgy hand reached out and grabbed one of Ace's fingers in a gentle grip._

_Ace smiled a little and wriggled his finger a bit as the baby watched him "Hello Aerrow" he said softly; he wondered what Aerrow would look like if he was his and Aeria's child, not Axara's, but he pushed that thought away moments later; it wouldn't happen so there was no point dwelling on it._

_Aeria watched Ace with her baby and smiled._

_When Ace's last nerve with Axara snapped it was at Christmas 4 years later, Axara's and his little digs had slowed down a lot now he had Aerrow to focus on, and Ace had become a sort of surrogate uncle to the little boy and played with him a lot, Aerrow adored him it seemed because it was HIM that would get a hug first before his mother and father, and Aerrow always chose him to play with or look after him._

_As much as Ace would love to rub it in Axara's face that his son cared more about him, he knew it was a low blow and he didn't want to use Aerrow as a tool against his father so again he said nothing._

_Until that night._

_It was Christmas and everyone had decided to go out and get piss ass drunk a traditional pastime for most at Christmas even aged 19 Ace didn't like to drink much, Axara didn't drink much either but when he wanted to get drunk he REALLY got drunk, and as the saying goes 'alcohol loosens the mind and loosens the tongue' and Axara began spouting out all sorts of crap, most of it was aimed at Ace._

_The teen had a short enough temper when sober, a temper that he'd been struggling to hold back for almost a whole 4 years, so when Axara started when he was drunk he pounced on him pinning the man to the floor and punching at shit out of him in a blind red rage; Ace had been a scrawny teenager and to be honest he still was scrawny, but he had strength behind his hits now, he had power, oh yes Axara had taught him VERY well, and to prove it the first punch broke the man's nose and blood went everywhere._

_He only got three or four hits in and Axara gave as good as he got, managing to break his nose too in the scuffle, before his drunken team mates finally dragged him off; Ace was screaming, everything that he'd ever wanted to say to Axara, everything that he'd bottled up came pouring out as he managed to so one last thing before they dragged him off; he stomped on Axara's wrist shattering the bones there._

_He laughed when he actually heard Axara scream in pain and let himself be dragged off with a satisfied smile damning the consequences._

Of course he regretted it the next morning when he woke up with a bandage and splint over his nose and everyone even Aeria giving him a cold shoulder it took him a minute to realize that Axara was nowhere to be found before it hit that he'd damn near kicked the crap out of his Sky Knight.

_"How could you!?" She asked him with a scolding tones he'd rarely ever heard from her "He wont be able to use his arm for a month! You shattered it! What HAPPENED to you! You never used to be like this!" she said sadly as she cradled Aerrow who was asleep in her arms at the moment "He's never done anything to you Ace, maybe been a little rough in spars but-" she said until the jumped as Ace's fist slammed into the wall denting it and waking Aerrow up._

_"No…you have NO idea what he's done" he said quietly "Your so blind Aer…so very blind" he said softly; he couldn't be mad at her not ever but her blindness to all the shit the other had put him through enraged him because Axara made HIM look like the bad guy! And indeed it did the others asked him why he'd done what he'd done, what could he say? How could he? They'd never understand and what hurt the most is neither would Aeria._

_---_

_In the end after months and months he'd had enough, the family he'd come close to now scorned him, that closeness they once had, turned to hate and then when the supposed 'final battle' was called and all of Atmos was gathered to stop Cyclonia from there domination of the Atmos, on that final battle Axara said something to him not even anything different to what he'd always said but it was the last straw and he saw red he grinned manically as he cut the man down with his own sword, blood pouring over his uniform and face, he didn't care as the others screamed horrified as he cut them down until only Aeria was left._

_The brunette women cried and clutched at his bloody uniform begging him to stop in her sweet voice, her soft hair was a mess and her green eyes were terrified, he granted her a quick death and snapped her neck, he didn't shed her blood like he did with the others, he cradled her in his bloody arms after he kissed her then lay her gently on the floor before he walked to the Condors controls and ripped them out before he left on a skimmer watching as everything he knew burned and fell into the wastelands as Atmos lost the battle._

_He couldn't go back now so he turned to Cyclonia he retold what he had done, he made up to the former Master Cyclonis, Lark's father, that it had been his plan to betray his friends all along, but the truth was he'd been pushed towards it, even if it wasn't the truth the former master didn't care and seemed pleased with his work he was giving the title of a Talon commander for doing what he did._

_But that didn't stop the almost crushing guilt he felt after the red mist of his rage had left. Aeria; he'd killed Aeria with his own hands! Ace felt devastated that he could even think of doing that to her, but he remembered it, he'd snapped her pale neck with his own bloody hands and left her body to rot in the wastelands. He really was a monster, Axara was right he was a failure, he wasn't good enough for the Storm Hawks or Aeria._

_Whenever someone mentioned the Storm Hawks afterwards he would go on a rampage, his fits of anger would be well versed with screams of Talons fleeing the scene or from the ones receiving Ace's punishment, more then once he'd almost killed Talon's who had innocently said the wrong thing; because of this the former master forced him to meditate; he found it worked to calm him and his rage up to a point but it did little to ease his guilt._

_In time the guilt faded to a dull throb only for it to come back full force the day he saw Aerrow as the leader of the new Storm Hawks, he'd tired to push the pain away tried to knock back the flashes of déjà vu he got whenever he clashed blades with Aerrow but it was so hard, it was due to his own past that the NEW Storm Hawks were still standing._

_Because of his guilt Aerrow and his team still lived._

_-------_

Aerrow sat there and listened.

Ace was surprised; the whole time he talked, and it took him a good two and a half hours to explain all this to the teen, Aerrow never interrupted once, and when he was finished he was silent for a minute "…So now you know the truth" he said simply; the red head didn't respond, it was like the red haired teen was still trying to get it all to sink in. He was pretty sure whatever the boys feelings; however small or big they were, would turn to hate after his big confession, he wasn't a religious man but he mentally prayed that one day Aerrow would forgive him for what he did.

"Aerrow…say something" he said softly, he touched Aerrow's shoulder and the boy flinched and drew away he shifted backwards on the bed as he huddled up, Aerrow actually looked ready to cry and that was something he hadn't seen the red head do since he was just a baby.

"…so that's it? That's the truth…everything I was told was a lie!?" He croaked out finally after a minute his voice muffled by his knees "They told me you did it for no reason, that you were a spy…it was all wrong?" Ace leaned his warm back against the cold metal wall and said nothing Aerrow didn't move or speak for a moment before he slid off the bed and walked to the door.

"Aerrow-" Ace started; he didn't want the teen to just walk away like this, but he didn't know what to say to make it better, he didn't know how to make this better, one part of him that was obviously driven by his libido was yelling about how he hadn't been laid in years and he was so close to having sex and now he freaking RUINED it; the other part of him knew it was only right to tell Aerrow the truth first, to lay all his sins and flaws bare for the red head to see so he could make his own decision.

So the red head could forgive him.

"I-I need time alone to think…" Aerrow murmured softly as he rubbed at his forehead; all this new information was actually giving him a headache "Just...stay away from me for a while, please" he said before he slipped out though the door and it closed behind him.

Ace sat there in the darkness feeling for the first time in a long time; completely helpless.

----------------

Once again Ace and Aerrow were playing the 'let's avoid each other' game but there was a distinct lack of sexual tension this time around and the mood on the ship was rather quiet and sullen; Aerrow was back to his quiet and unresponsive attitude, Junko was giving him cold looks after what he did to Finn; The blonde's mood was sullen and sulky; apparently Aerrow had gone right up to Finn and told him that he didn't see Finn as anything but a friend and that the blonde indeed wasn't his type and that made Finn be in a fouler mood than he already was; if it wasn't for Junko Finn would have probably done something stupid and idiotic.

Ace spent most of his time locked in his room; The team didn't want to see him and he didn't want to see them he only stepped out of his room to do chores, grab something to eat and go to the bathroom other then that he was sat there on his bed trying to read while really he was re-remembering the conversation he and Aerrow had. It was foolish Ace knew to think over what he'd said to the red head; it wouldn't change anything, in the end Aerrow wouldn't forgive him for what he did that he was sure of.

Ace closed the book and leaned against the wall feeling empty and lost; he'd never felt like that before; even after he'd killed the original Storm Hawks he at least had some sort of purpose now it seemed he had none at all and it left him feeling rather hollow; he didn't have a place on the ship arguments were breaking out because of him, to be honest he felt it would be best if he left; he knew coming onto the Condor was a bad idea, too many memories too much nostalgia.

Ace got up and walked to his desk and placed the book on top, however he knocked a cup off the table by accident and it rolled under the table, Ace sighed and picked it up before he blinked and pulled out something else; instead of a cup he pulled out a tiny black teddy bear with a blue ribbon around its neck, and was about half the size of his hand it was a little dusty and moth eaten but still in tact.

Ace stared at it wondering where that had come from, for some reason it was familiar…

----

_"Uncle Ace! Uncle Ace! Help me!" three and a half year old Aerrow cried as he tugged on Ace arm as they walked around Neon "I wanna toy but I can't get it, can you get it for me? Pweeeeeeeeeze?" the little boy asked as he shot his 'uncle' Ace the puppy dog eyes of doom at him._

Ace laughed at that and scooped the three year old up into his arms "Okay Aerrow what toy is it?" he asked as he followed the red heads directions to the hoop la booth and pointed to the tiny toy in the centre "That! I want that one!" he said with a giggle.

Ace smiled at that and set the red head down as he paid for a game and chuckled; it was no wonder Aerrow couldn't win, he could barely see over the top of the counter! He smirked and aimed carefully managing to snag the bear on his second try. "There you go brat" he teased as he ruffled Aerrow's soft and fluffy hair.

"Thanks Uncle Ace!" Aerrow said as he hugged the bear happily then hugged the older man around the legs happily, Ace laughed a light and scooped the boy up again letting Aerrow hug him around his neck the little teddy bear clutch firmly in one hand.

----

"I wondered where that went" A voice broke Ace out of his thoughts; he'd spent the last 10 minutes starting intently at the toy without realizing it and blinked before he stared at Aerrow who was standing in the doorway "I lost that on the ship…before you killed my parents, we spent ages looking all over for it but we could never find it…I guess its been in here all this time" Aerrow said' he was wet, dressed in Jeans and had a towel wrapped around his neck.

"…Guess so" Ace muttered softly not sure what to say he dusted the bear off then held it out for the boy "Don't leave your things in my room" he said but he was smiling a little.

Aerrow blinked at this blankly before he smiled a little and actually chuckled and took it, stuffing the tiny bear into the back pocket of his jeans "I'll keep that in mind…are you going to leave?" Aerrow asked softly the question coming out of the blue, which made Ace once again, blink and stared blankly as the red haired teen in front of him.

He snorted and sat at his desk scooping up the empty cup an setting it on the table with a quite clink of metal before he turned to the red head his eyes a little dull "What makes you think I'm going to leave?" he asked softly wondering how the hell Aerrow could either figure out or know that's what he'd been thinking of doing not half an hour ago.

"Nothing really…if just…wouldn't surprise me if you wanted to leave, after all your not having the best time here" he admitted softly with a blush as he leant against the door frame too cautious to enter the room and too curious to leave it; he knew it was selfish but Aerrow didn't want Ace to leave, despite everything Ace had said to him, he knew for certain that he wanted Ace to stay on the Condor with him…but that was the only thing he was certain of.

"…I thought about it" he admitted as he leaned back in his chair making it squeak a little a she folded his arms "Everyone hates me and I have no real purpose here, I feel like I'm lost" he said softly; it was strange; he wouldn't admit how he felt to anyone not even to Master Cyclonis, but when Aerrow was around it was like he could tell the boy anything.

Just like he could tell Aeria anything.

Aerrow looked at the man and felt his chest tighten; was this really the same man who'd killed his family in cold blood? The same man whom he'd fought in the air and clashed blades with? Whom he'd exchanged blows and heated words with? Those memories of Ace, those moments seemed to be from such a long time ago when in reality it had only been months, Ace seemed like a completely different person, but Aerrow knew that wasn't the truth, the truth was Ace had been hiding his real self and real feelings behind a mask of hatred for a long time and now he didn't have it anymore he didn't know what to do.

Aerrow slowly walked over and stepped over to Ace his footsteps quiet before he reached Ace and put a hand on his shoulder and another on his chin lifting it up "I…don't hate you…and you have a purpose like everyone else, you just need to find it again" he said softly before he kissed the older man, the kiss was shy and tentative but needy at the same time.

Ace was taken by surprise that it was Aerrow that initiated a kiss this time around but he was hardly complaining and he kissed the red head back eagerly, his heart racing; did this mean Aerrow forgave him? Did it mean Aerrow wanted to be with him? He wanted to ask but he was almost afraid of the answers so he didn't, he liked to think he was forgiven already, as he wrapped an arm around Aerrow's waist and pulled the boy into his lap as he slipped his tongue in Aerrow's mouth deepening the kiss.

Aerrow moaned softly as his green eyes fluttered shut his arm coming up and wrapping around the older mans neck; he'd thought about it long and hard and found that no matter what, he couldn't hate Ace for what he'd done, Ace had told him the truth and let himself be judged and he couldn't hate him for his honesty, even though his family had been taken held gained a new one in return…and Ace was still here with him, that's all that mattered to him. Aerrow shivered as he felt Ace's cold hands slide up his wet back as he continued kissing, neither of then were aware that Spitz, disguised under an invisibility crystal, had flown up to the Condor and peeked through the rooms window and was relaying the image of them both lip-locking back to Master Cyclonis.

---

Master Cyclonis's face was cold and silent as she stared at the image that Spitz was relaying to her, her mouth was narrowed to a thin line as her purple eyes scrutinized what she was seeing intently, trying to see if it was a flaw in the image rather then what it actually was; Her former commander and her biggest annoyance 'making out'.

"…so" she said rather bluntly as she showed the image to Ravess and Snipe "He's there after all and FRATRINIZING WITH THE SKY KNIGHT!" She roared making everyone in her throne room tremble with fear "Send out the Nightcrawler's, I want him back in Cyclonia by dawn tomorrow. "She hissed obviously pissed off though no one really knew the reason why, after all she was the one who had made Ace nothing more than a prisoner.

"Y-yes Master" Raves stuttered before she left; she was starting to wonder if Cyclonis was losing her touch, if all the stress of being such a young leader was getting to her; after all it wasn't like any 18 year olds went and ruled an entire nation. Even so Ravess didn't dare ask not after the way Cyclonis had been on edge since she found out Ace was missing.

Whatever shit was about to hit the fan Ravess was glad it wasn't aimed in her direction.

----

Ace was in heaven, or at least the closet equivalent of it as he devoured Aerrow mouth like he'd never be able to kiss the boy again, the red heads whimpers and moans fuelled him to tease the hormonal teen and pinch his nipples a little making Aerrow's back arch into his hand and gasp a little in pleasure, The red head whined a little and was practically rubbing himself against Ace as they continued the long deep kiss; it was obvious what Aerrow wanted and like Hell Ace was wasting another opportunity to fuck the beautiful boy senseless.

"Mmmph-A-ace" Aerrow panted softly as he parted the kiss his eyes a little glazed over and his face a cute shade of red "M-Maybe we should move" he said before he gasped as Ace bit his neck gently sucking at the spot where his neck and shoulder met and left a mark there on the teen.

Moving sounded like a good Idea, he dragged the boys legs and managed to stand up while still carrying Aerrow as the teen meeped and clung to him so he didn't fall on his ass before he walked to the bed and lay the teen on it with a smirk, which just made Aerrow blush more; Ace look so hot when he had that evil smirk on his face…

"Aerrow…are you sure?" Ace asked as he paused in ravishing Aerrow's body; if they did this there was no turning back. The red head thought about this for a moment before he nodded "Yeah…but, only if you promise to stay with me here, forever" he said.

Ace had to laugh at that; a promise like that made him sound like the red haired teen was a child again asking him to stay 'forever and ever' but the dark haired man didn't mind; it was a "I promise" he said softly as he laced his rough callused hands with Aerrow's and nuzzled his neck as he closed his eyes; he didn't have a purpose but if he stayed with Aerrow he was sure he could find it.

Aerrow reached up and shyly asked his hands up Ace's shirt, his cold hands moving the material up his body as the red head explored his fit slim form with a bright blush; Ace just smiled into the teens neck as he nuzzled him and let the boy take his time; it was his first time after all and Ace at least wanted to make it pleasurable and memorable for them both.

As Aerrow explored his body his hands moved to the teens pants and unzipped them slowly peeling the denim material away and sliding it off Aerrow's legs, not wanting to be left out, the red heads fingers fumbled to do the same to him as they shared another deep kiss.

It didn't take long to get them both naked.

Ace took his time kissing and licking down Aerrow's body as the red haired teenager squirmed and blushed under him, Ace's eyes refused to look away from Aerrow's the while time and the red head looked back with a bright blush before he gasped and bucked his hips up as Ace took a hold of his cock and stroked it gently and slowly as he kissed and nibbled at the boys hips leaving another mark on Aerrow's pale body "Mmmngh A-ace!" he moaned softly; It was so slow it was almost torture! But at the same time he was glad Ace wasn't rushing into anything, and treating him as if he was something vulnerable or fragile.

Ace just smiled to himself as he parted Aerrow's legs gently a hands slipping down and rubbing at the red heads entrance making the teen gasp in surprise "Don't; tense up, just relax" he said softly as he slid his finger inside Aerrow making him moan.

Aerrow winced a little and took deep breaths trying not tom tense up as Ace prepared him; to be honest he was more self conscious about lying on Aces bed, legs spread as Ace stared at him with such an intense look it made him blush more if it was possible. The red head nodded to Ace when it was okay for him to move his finger and blinked as Ace kissed him deeply as he loosened his entrance, it served as a good distraction because he didn't even notice when the older man slipped a second finger inside of him.

When Ace hit Aerrow's prostate by accident the red head parted the kiss and almost screamed "Ahn! A-ace!" he moaned out loudly his hips bucking desperately, wanting more of that feeling his nails digging into the others back as he panted wide eyed.

Ace chuckled softly at that and slipped in a third finger his fingers just brushing by the teens prostate teasingly just to watch Aerrow writhe on the bed, the red head whined and arched his body up off the bed at Aces teasing, and the older man couldn't help but stare for a good long while; it was a beautiful sight to watch.

"W-what are you staring at?" Aerrow panted as he realized Ace was just staring at him and teasing him with that pleasurable feeling over and over, the red haired teen was so hard now he was even leaking re-cum he was being teased so much, the liquid slipping down his length and down his hips.

"Just you" Ace said with a smirk as he pulled his fingers out and licked then gently with a smirk as he wrapped the teens legs around his waist and positioned himself at the teens entrance "You sure your ready for this?" he asked one last time. Aerrow nodded, he looked nervous and embarrassed, but not scared.

"I'm ready" he said softly, the older man nodded at that "Don't tense up this will hurt at first" he warned before he gripped at Aerrow's hips and started to slide into the red head oh so slowly, making sure not to hurt the teen; Ace buried his head in Aerrow's neck and groaned, he'd never felt anything like it; Aerrow as pure and virgin and so hot inside "Oh fuck!" he moaned as he slid himself in to the hilt and panted; he was forcing himself not to be rough and just fuck Aerrow hard from the start, the red head just felt so good around him.

"Ah…ah…A-ace…" Aerrow panted as he clung to the dark haired man tightly, tears in his eyes; it had hurt when Ace had first entered him but it had eased away now "I-Its okay you can move" he said softly; the older man didn't respond other then to nod as he back rocking in and out of Aerrow slowly getting the red head used to the movement first before he pulled out of Aerrow fully before thrusting back in; the louder Aerrow moaned, the faster and harder Ace thrust into the teen.

"Ahn ahhh ngh A-Ace!" Once Aerrow started crying out the ex-talons name there was no stopping him; he chanted Ace's name like it was a prayer, the teens nails clawing into Aces back as they moved together in synch, moving as one as Ace groaned softly and gripped at Aerrow's hips hard enough to bruise; Ace was a man with plenty of stamina but Aerrow felt so tight and hot around his length he didn't know how long he'd be able to carry on like this "Aerrow" he purred softly as he closed his eyes and shuddered at Aerrow clinging to him for dear life and screaming his name; the red heads cries just made him want Aerrow more and he couldn't help but thrust faster and harder into the other.

Aerrow screamed loud enough for the whole Condor to hear as Ace hit his prostate "ACE!! Ah t-there! Right there!" he moaned as he bucked his hips back harder. Ace gave no mercy then he thrust hard and fast into the red head, holding nothing back as he grunted and groaned in pleasure; so close, he was getting so close now. . .

"Ace! Ace I'm gonna cum! I'm gonna-" he cried out before he came hard clinging to Ace and shuddering as he came all over their stomach the hot liquid sliding down his thighs. Ace groaned and came a moment after him filling the red head up to the brim before he pulled out slowly and collapsed on the space of the bed next to Aerrow who flopped back panting and stated.

Ace smiled a little and pulled Aerrow to him and held him close and nuzzled his neck nibbling and sucking on his neck playfully continuing to leave marks on the boy's soft flesh. "Any regrets?" Ace asked softly one hand in Aerrow's hair as the teen looked up at him.

"None at all" he said with a smile before he closed his eyes and nuzzled into Aces chest sighing softly as he started to drift off to sleep. Ace smiled and followed suit, neither of then away of the dark clouds approaching…

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Read and review people! You want another chapter you better do it! XD 11 freaking pages this took! That's three longer than the last chapter! Enjoy until next time!

Jade xx


	7. Capture

SORRY! God I am SO sorry to everyone who's been waiting over a year and a half for this! I really do apologise, the reason it took so long for me to do this is because; I've moved houses twice, the nets been a pain, I've been ill, the laptops have broken down and I've shed tears of frustration while struggling with writers block! But enough about that lets get to the good stuff! I hope you guys have been wanting it!

Jade

Chapter seven – Capture

Aerrow groaned softly as he shifted a little in bed one arm blindly trying to tug the covers over his head; it was already morning, he knew it was morning because the sun kept shining in his face and wouldn't heave him the fuck alone! Grumbling darkly he shifted slowly, winching as his ass twinged with pain, until he had his face buried in Aces neck and hair, Aerrow smiled sleepily and nuzzled the dark locks gently; he didn't have to be awake to know who was sleeping next to him; after all, after last night how could he forget?

He didn't want to open his eyes at first, partly because he was tired and partly because if he woke up he wouldn't go back to sleep until tonight and he still felt tired after the previous evenings activities.

Despite what he wanted his stomach growled demanding the get up any way and get some food, the red head grumbled again before he opened his eyes slowly and focused on Ace's face; Aerrow smiled a little; the dark haired man looked so much younger and peaceful when he was actually getting a good nights sleep; the red head traced along the man's thin mouth softly before he placed a quick kiss there, he gently slipped out of bed and decided that if he was getting up he'd better go the whole hog and have a shower; Ace could sleep in a bit longer; what was the harm?

Ace grumbled softly when the red head left and the man rolled over onto Aerrow's warm spot on the bed the men almost cuddling Aerrow's pillow, which was strangely cute from the red heads point of view.

Aerrow stepped into the shower and almost moaned in relief at the hot water against his skin, most of which was aching; Aerrow hummed softly to himself as he washed himself down (Cleaning out his ass hurt and was trickier than expected) and shampooed his hair with a smile; he felt today was going to be a good day today!

Once Aerrow was clean he stepped out of the shower and into his room again shoving on a clean white shirt and some jeans; he didn't feel like getting dosed up in his uniform today anyway, they were in the heart of Atmosian territory; the chanced the Talons would attack them ere slim.

Aerrow smiled as Ace continued to sleep his face buried in Aerrow's pillow and decided to make them both breakfast; he checked the time; it was 7am; not even Piper was up yet, so the kitchen was free for him to make breakfast for just the two of them.

The red head almost laughed at how mushy and romantic he was being right now with breakfast in bed and the whole 'watching-your-lover-sleep' thing but he didn't care, everything seemed good today; mushy or not it was what couples did right? They showed they cared by doing the little things.

Aerrow went to the kitchen a happy skip in his step; he almost had a heart attack when he noticed FINN was there, cradling a cup of coffee "…Finn?" He asked with a raised eyebrow; the blonde sharpshooter was not known for getting up early, which left only one option "Have…you been here all night?" He asked as he frowned a little concerned as he sat down neck to the blonde "Finn, look at me"

The blonde didn't look up at first as he stirred a teaspoon in his cup absently, but when he did Aerrow's suspicions were confirmed; the blonde had dark circles under his eyes and looked ready to drop "Finn what's wrong?" He said softly he reached out to hold his friends hand but Finn jerked it back as if Aerrow had burnt him.

The red head tried not to let the others actions hurt him; he tried hard because Finn was his friend he couldn't hate him for being gay could he? "Finn please, tell me what's going on, I'm worried about you," He said softly.

"…Nothing, nothings EVER going on Aerrow" He said softly his voice sounding croaky, whether it was from lack of speaking or from crying Aerrow couldn't tell. The red head watched Finn clench the teas spoon tight in his hand bending it with surprising ease.

"…Don't lie to me Finn I know you better than you think…what's going on?" He asked he tried to reach for him again and this time Finn grabbed his wrist in a tight grip.

"What do you THINK Aerrow? You're with HIM! You're FUCKING our arch nemesis under OUR roof and were supposed to be OKAY with it! I'M meant to be okay with it!" Finn snapped his face twisted into a snarl of anger as he stabbed the teas spoon down so hard it dug into the table.

Aerrow jumped and stared; he'd never seen Finn this angry before; he hated to admit it but it scared him a little; the blonde had always been a lazy, laid back sports and girls obsessed dork; he'd never EVER seen Finn truly angry over anything, irritated, and annoyed but never rage like this. "Finn I…I'm sorry but, this is how I feel…please don't shut me out because of this" Aerrow said as he tried not to wince, the others grip on his wrist was getting tighter "Finn your hurting me"

"So what? Ace hurt you and you still love him!" Finn snapped as he started to crush Aerrow's wrist "Maybe if I hurt you enough you'll love me too"

The red head went wide eyed at that "That's not why I love Ace! He explained what he did and why! I believe him and forgive him-ah!" He bit how hard on his lip as he felt his wrist snap; waves of agonizing pain shot up his arm and he blinked back tears; it hurt like fuck and Finn still wouldn't let go! "Finn!"

Finn stared at him dully before he let the others wrist go, as soon as he did the broken area started to swell up like a balloon, Aerrow ran to the freezer and grabbed some ice packs he wrapped them in a towel before wrapping it around his wrist "…Why couldn't you just love me?" Finn said dully "Everything I do seems to go wrong…I crash my skimmer, I cant play the guitar right, I cant even get the guy I love because he likes the DARKER side of life" He said dully.

"…Finn please, you don't under stand…You cant CHOOSE who you fall for…sometimes it just happens with the most…unexpected of people…I never planned to fall for Ace…and I never EVER wanted to hurt you…you're my child hood friend…Please don't push me away" Aerrow said softly.

The blonde said nothing for a moment before leaned over and kissed Aerrow, making the red head jump in surprise, he tried to pull away but the blonde had a grip on the back of Aerrow's head and pulled him in deeper "M-Mhmmph! Aerrow tired to push him away harder, giving him a good shove; but it only served for Finn to fall off his chair and take Aerrow with him the two landing in a heap on the floor.

Finn quickly rolled them over before he grabbed Aerrow's wrists and tapped them with a crystal, the red head's arms suddenly felt like they weighed 100 tons and they slammed to the floor he tried to move but he couldn't "M-Mhm! What did you do to me?" He demanded as he jerked away from the kiss.

"Gravi crystal anything it touches with be stuck to the floor" He said softly "Aerrow…Let me love you, let me love you, just once…" He said softly already pushing up Aerrow's shirt before licking along his abs, Aerrow wriggled and tried to kick Finn away but the Gravi crystal made quick work of them leaving Aerrow helpless as Finn moved up his chest.

Aerrow squirmed at that "Stop it! HELP! HEL-!" He was cut off before a tea towel was shoved in his mouth as a gag Aerrow whimpered and continued to struggle but it was no used, he couldn't move his arms or legs at all meaning he had no choice but to let Finn do what he wanted.

Finns eyes were bright with excitement as he kicked around his Sky Knights nipples softly "You have really soft skin…" He whispered softly "Like silk" He purred as he licked at his nipples and watched the red head a she bit down and whimper "Don't worry Aerrow, Ill be gentle" He said softly as he began to suck on Aerrow's neck.

Aerrow couldn't even scream he felt tears slide down his face as the blonde probed his body with his hot mouth; he felt sick; this wasn't his best friend, it couldn't be; it was like a monster went and possessed him.

Finn was making his way down to his pants, when a foot came out of nowhere and sent the other flying into the oven "What the FUCK do you think your doing Blondie?" Ace snarled as he rolled his shoulder ready to beat the shit out of Finn for even DARING to touch HIS red head!

Finn growled and stood "Keep out of this…It's got fuck all to do with you" He growled as he charged towards the man; one punch and Ace had him on his ass again with a bleeding nose, the blonde let out a yelp of agony and clutched at his face, blood seeping from in between his hands as he tried to stem the blood flow.

"When your trying to rape my BOYFRIEND yes, it DOES!" Ace hissed his eyes turning almost black with rage; if the blonde wasn't Aerrow's friend he'd have killed him by now; No one tried to violate someone he cared about; NO ONE. "Get out, now, before I make you, and trust me the way I feel, if you don't go, you wont have any teeth left either!"

Finn glared at them both darkly before he stood and left leaving Ace to deal with un-sticking Aerrow from the floor "Hey…" Ace looked at the slight marks the blonde had left on the ten, feeling a little concerned, but apart from the marks Finn had left on his chest he was relatively okay "Just hang on I'm going to get a crystal to reverse this…Ill have to wake piper she knows best" He said softly a she stroked the red heads face gently.

Aerrow noticed his expression "I'm fine Ace, just hurry, the floor is cold" Aerrow said; his skin was actually coming out in goose bumps; metal floors sucked to lie on.

"I'll be right back" He promised softly with a faint smile before he stood and left the small kitchen and headed towards Pipers room; the girl was as good as Cyclonis when it came to Crystals he was sure the girl would have something for Aerrow he knocked gently on her door; thinking she wouldn't be up yet, however to his surprise she seemed wide awake "Ah hi…Aerrow and Finn had a scuffle and, Aerrow's sort of stuck to the floor in the kitchen, I don't know what crystal Finn use don him but he's stuck fast" Ace explained.

"Uhm r-right" She said, she sounded nervous "W-why don't you come in and I'll…look for something…sounds like Finn used my Gravi crystal…I wondered where it w-went" He shivered as she slipped inside; it was dark in her room the window closed and the only things illuminating the room were her crystals that were scattered about the room on shelves or in boxes.

Ace looked around; he'd never seen Pipers room before but it was full of crystals and navigation charts from what he could tell in the dark, Piper was on the table rummaging for something before she held up a yellow crystal "…I'm sorry" a tear fell down her face as she zapped him with the crystal paralysing him and making him land flat on his back.

Ace didn't understand; Piper was one of the only ones that seemed to actually not mind his prescience here on the Condor! It all made sense when the Night crawlers appeared in view they had waited in the darkness and were now crawling out of the woodwork, laughing as they walked around Aces frozen body; the ex-Talon felt his stomach twist in fear; if the Night crawlers were here for him it only meant one thing; Cyclonis wanted him back, which meant someone had been watching them otherwise how else would they know he was here? He paled.

Oh shit, what if she knew about him and Aerrow! He struggled against the numbness he felt but it was no use the crystal had been expertly refined and would last for hours probably.

One night crawler walked up to Piper who tried to back away as he cupped her cheek "Good girl little one, very good" the Night crawler hissed, "He is a fair price for the lives of your team yessss?" He said and Ace blinked before it clicked; they had probably threatened Piper not just with her life, but everyone else's on board too if she didn't help them capture him; he couldn't blame her for choosing the others over him.

Piper just nodded but she wasn't looking at the Night crawler, she was looking at Ace; she looked extremely upset, almost sad to see him go; he knew though that her sorrow was for Aerrow when he found out he'd been taken. He wished he could talk, if he could he'd tell her to keep Aerrow as far away from Cyclonia as possible but he couldn't so he just stared back at her and hoped that logical brain of hers would kick in when it was needed and stop Aerrow form doing something that could kill him.

Piper did nothing as the Night crawlers dragged Aces limp form off the floor and dragged him away into the hall way; when Piper ran out to look; they were already gone as quick as they had come, like a phantom. The dark skinned girl grabbed a crystal out of her drawer and ran to the kitchen and pressed it to Aerrow's limbs "Aerrow…" She hugged him tightly as she started to cry. "I'm so sorry"

Aerrow blinked as he sat up and found himself with an armful of Piper sobbing into his chest "W-what's wrong? Piper?" He asked concerned, Piper wasn't someone who cried easily so something really must have shaken her up.

"I'm sorry Aerrow…they took Ace" She said softly as he wiped her eyes; she was never close to Ace; not really but she knew, that Aerrow loved him and this would hurt him; that was something that she didn't want to do; Aerrow was like a brother to her "The night crawlers, I didn't see then coming…they said if I didn't help them catch Ace…they'd destroy everyone on the ship…I'm sorry"

Aerrow froze as he held her, he felt…numb completely and utterly numb, Ace was gone…he couldn't be! He and Ace had just started a relationship they'd just started to under stand and love each other…why did she take him away!

"We have to get him back! We will!" He said as he took deep breaths trying to stay strong even though he wanted nothing more than to cry "We need help"

Aerrow no one will help us! If any of the Sky knights or the council realize we've been hiding him we'll be arrested on the spot…we need to plan this one alone…okay?"

Aerrow nodded before he stood helping Piper up off the floor. "Then lets make a plan, we need to get him back before Cyclonis tortures him…or worse."

Ace groaned softly as he stirred awake, half way on the journey to Cyclonia he's started to struggle and wriggled around; he'd rather fall into the wastelands than be caught by Cyclonis again; however the Nightcrawler got annoyed with his struggles and decided to knock him out "…Ugh" He tried to move but found his arms were strapped down tight, he tried his legs and found they were the same; he was strapped down on some sort of metal table, he realized with dread that he recognized it to be the same table that Cyclonis used for her experiments.

"Ah so your awake at last, that's good, I would HATE for you to miss on what's going to happen next" Cyclonis spoke softly as she stepped out of the shadows she walked towards the table he was strapped on and smiled down at him but it wasn't a friendly smile, no it was cold and promised him a LOT of pain.

"…What are you going to do?" Ace asked softly; he wasn't about to beat around the bush with her; she was up to something, and that something didn't bode well for him, his eyes followed her and she moved to a nearby table Ace had to swallow at the amount of surgical tools there were on it.

"I'm going to make you better" She said simple as she held a small scalpel up to the light to inspect it "You've failed me constantly ever since the Storm hawks made their, big début and you've been useless ever since…and now I know why" She looked at him her eyes black with anger "All this time I thought maybe you felt pity for the kid so that's why you let him live…now I find its much deeper than that…isn't it Ace" she almost hissed at him.

Ace couldn't respond in time as she thrust the scalpel she's been holding right through his hand Ace bit back a scream of agony as he felt the scalpel slice through his flesh as if it was butter, he bit his lip hard enough for it to bleed as he tried to keep calm but it was hard "You fucking monster" He hissed with loathing; He was REALLY starting to hate the girl he had helped raise into an empress.

"Such rude language; this is your punishment, your meant to be mine, my servant until you die like the rest of the pathetic worms on this Terra, I wont let Aerrow have you" She cooed with a smirk "I, am going to make you forget him, permanently" She said her black nails stroked his cheek before she dug then in leaving a long line of cuts across his jaw "Don't worry Ace, this is just the BEGINNING of your punishment, and when were done…you'll be mine forever more" She said before she started to laugh darkly as two assistants dressed in lab coats and face masks approached him.

Ace struggled against his restraints and the men holding him down as Cyclonis approached with another scalpel and a strange black crystal that Ace REALLY didn't like the look of "Shall we begin boys?" She cooed before she started her work…

Ace couldn't remember when he'd started screaming sometime after she'd cut a hole in his shoulder; without anaesthetic so he could feel all the pain, after that, she had popped the crystal inside the hole she'd made in him. After that all there was, was pain…agonising burning pain; he didn't just feel it in his shoulder it was in his whole body; his brain throbbed as he screamed; he wanted it to stop! He'd never felt pain like it!

And then…after what seemed like forever…it stopped.

Ace panted harshly as sweat poured off his body, he felt sickly like he had the flu, but eventually that feeling faded, so did the pain, the aches in his body, then any feelings at all "…" He stared at the ceiling blankly and wondered where he was.

"Its done Master" One of the lab assistants whispered in her ear as the assistantsuncuffed him from the cold metal table, Dark Ace ddidn'tmove his red eyes were dull and unmoving, his bbreathingcalm aandcomposed as Master Cyclonis approached him "Stand" She ordered coldly.

Ace sat up slowly, mechanically, almost as if he were a machine not a man, he shifted off the table and stood in front of her tall and proud but his mind and face were blank; no emotions whatsoever.

Cyclonis smirked as her black panted fingernails stroked across his cheek and down his chest, he didn't so much as flinch or look at her, he was passive and cold. "Look at me" She ordered and he obeyed his red eyes flicking down to look at her small form his head tilting downwards just a fraction so he could see into he eyes.

"You remember me don't you?" She cooed softly "I am your master, and you my servant, to do my every whim...understand?"He cooed softly; the Dark Ace was silent he simply nodded an affermative to confirm that he understood "Good your first order...is to find the Storm Hawks...Destroy the ship kill everyone but the Sky Knight, I want him to suffer, but bring him here...I want him alive" She cooed.

Ace nodded again at that "Yes master" He spoke in a quiet hiss almost like a snake.

Cyclonis chuckled darkly "Get yourself dressed and rest, you leave first thing in the morning"she said with a wave of her hand as she dismissed not only Ace, but the lab assistants as well, she turned back to her machines and thinkers with them which cackling darkly to herself; Aerrow wouldn't know what had hit him

Until it was too late.

DONE! I finally finished this XD Its not as long as usual but her I finished the chapter you gotta be grateful for that! I hope you all enjoyed this PLEAS PLEASE Read and review! As slow as my writing is without a computer of my own I really do appreciate all comments!

See you next time!

Jade


	8. Battlefield

Hi everyone! Its been six months since I last updated, and for this I'm sorry; I was planning to update this a lot earlier, however the computer I was using was a spare one my friend had, which went kaput, and had to be trashed, that meant all the data on that computer was wiped and thus so was the chapter, after that I was busy moving home yet again, this time into my own apartment and decorating it how I see fit, and then of course Halloween and Christmas have come about so I've been uber busy up until now, and as usual Writers block reared its ugly head.

Again I apaologize for the delay and hope you enjoy this chapter!

Jade xx

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Chapter 8 - Battlefield

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Aerrow was pacing in circles around the deck; after Ace's dissaperance yesterday morning Aerrow was worried sick; he;d hidden in his room and tried nto to cry; he pulled his emotions in; crying would not help Ace, it would not save him and it wouldnt help the team. So he did what he always did; he washed dressed and held a meeting with the others to try and make a plan to Rescue Ace. "We need to figure out how to get him back" Who knows what Cyclonis will do to him we need a plan!" He said to the other three int he room; Finn was in his room still nursing his broken nose form yesterday and refused to speak to anyone, he was probably not only nursing his bruised ego but thinking over his shameful actions yesterday

Aerrow bit his lip and took a deep breath; he was frantic about Ace but he knew panicking wouldnt help he close dhis eyes and tried to think of a way to get the dark haired Ex-commander back "We could always sneak back into Cyclonia using the sewers?" He said.

Stork shook his head "nu-uh, not a good idea I hear they installed lasers down there that eat flesh" Stork said with an eye twitch "Wouldn't be the best place to go"

"Well how about disguising ourselves with chroma crystals?" the red head suggested, after a moment Piper nodded.

"It could work but I only have two crystals, it means leaving three of us behind and they've really tightened security, if we get caught our chances of getting out in one piece are slim"

Aerrow rubbed at his eyes tiredly before he sighed; exasperated;"Thats no good then... come on guys think! There has to be something we can do!" He groaned.

Not a moment later the alarms suddenly bleared full blast making Stork almsot jump out his fur as he pulled down the scope and spun it around frantically for any sign of the impending danger, before he froze; his small frame tensing as he let out a soft 'meep' sound. "Cyclonian battle air ships at three o'clock! Theyre heading striaght for us!"

"What? Ugh they have the worst timing!" Aerrow paused then grinned "Then again if we raid one of the air ships we could grab some cyclonian supplies to make ourselves look like the real deal! Alright everyone to battle!" Aerrow called befor ehe ran to Finns room and banged on his door "Finn come out, we have Cyclonian's incoming and we need your aim!" He yelled through the door ebfor ehe ran to the hanger bay, swiping up his blades as he went, making sure everything was in order.

Smiling he pet his Skimmer as Radarr scampered over and joined him on his side car as he swung his leg over and sat "Okay, everyone ready?" he asked as he revved his engine with a grin; he loved flying there was no bigger thrill than having the wind in your hair.

"Ready" Finn answered quietly; he;d suited up and was on his skimmer he looekd at Aerrow with blank eyes, like he wasnt really seeing his childhood friend; the red head felt a twinge of pain; he wished Finn could just be happy fro him, or move on elsewhere. "Okay lets go!" He said, putting up a fake heroic smiled as they set off; he'd talk to Finn later, right now he had some talon tail to destroy!

* * *

Ace looked out of the windscreen of the Cyclonian battle ship where the Condor was a short distance away; there was something about that ship that made him feel something strange, which was odd as he didnt feel anything any more, not pain, not hunger, or exhaustion, Master Cyclonis had blocked his emotions and left him practically a robot, a cybrog doing his masters bidding "Aim blasters on the Condor" He ordered dully "Fire when ready" he said before he turned to look at his second in command, the one they dubbed 'scarface' "Your in charge Im going with the alpha squad to take out the sky knight" He said softly as he walked off.

All memories of Aerrow, of who he was and how important he was, were buried deep; Ace, at the moment, simply didn't remember Aerrow, other then he was to be captured by Ace and taken Back to Cyclonia.

The dark haired commander slid on his ride and revved the engine "Move out" He ordered beforeset off leaving smoke behind him as he flew out of the ships hanger bay and out into the open sky to face Aerrow.

* * *

"Aerrow! Aerrow something not right! Thats Ace out there! Hes back with the Cyclonian's! and hes willingly leading them!" Piper yelled as she watched Ace's passive face through the scope on her Binoculours.

Aerrow swallowed as he squashed down how he felt about this news and he had plenty of emotions, betrayal and hurt were the two major things he felt as well as anger and confusion; had Ace lied to him? had it been a ploy all along?

Logically Aerrow didnt believe it; Ace had pourted his heart out to him, he'd confessed everything...if it had been a ploy why would he be so open? He doubted Ace had lied about his parents death it just...seemed too real.

If Ace wasnt doing this willingly that meant one of two things 10 Cyclonis had tortured him back to her side, or 2) she used some other way to control him; either way this wasnt good.

Aerrow swallowed and took a deep breath as he hopped onto the wings of his skimmer drawing his blades as Radar took control of his ride, activating the striker crystals as his blades glowed a bright blue colour; he knew he;d have to fight Ace again; something he hoped he would never have to do after forming a relashionship with the older man.

"...Just my luck things never go my way" Aerrow murmured softly as Ace came closer Aerrow tensed ready for Ace when he jumped and landed on his skimmer, he charged him and attacked but he was stunned at how Ace moved and at how ferocious he was in his fighting; Ace had always been a fierce fighter but never ruthless; he'd always drawn the fights out, made then last so he could enjoy them, and maybe taunt a little...until Aerrow one upped him and saved the day.

This fight, was nothing like that Ace was determiend to beat him and iot was soon apparent that Ace had been holding back on him for years, becuase his brute strength matched that of Snipe almost; but unlike the burly man, Ace had speed to go with that power he wielded and Aerrow was no match.

Aerrow had the wind knocked out of him as he was disarmed his blades falling into the wastelands below; he was pretty sure Ace had sprained his wrist as well as busted a rib or two, becuase his chest burned and he couldn't brethe properly. "Ace...Ace please stop..." He croaked; why had he gone into battle again? Oh yeah becuase he loved Ace and hoped against all hope that this whole thing had been a ploy on Ace's part, that hed was going to turn around and betray Cyclonia.

But there was no chance of that, the man he had fallen for was not there; the Ace he knew no longer existed and a cold heartless machine seemed to have taken up his appearance. Ace kicked him on the chest making Aerrow choke and cough as the dark haired man grabbed him by the hair and pulled him to his feet earning a weak yelp off the red head.

"...Your coming with me" Ace hissed and Aerrow stared wide eyed as he shook in fear; that voice...that voice was NOT Ace's! it was cold and dead and it scared Aerrow at how much Ace had changed after only one day apart.

"Ace please...please you have to remember me!" He gripped at Aces arm, it was like a steel girder, hard and unmoveable, even when Aerrow dug his nails in and clawed at Aces hand the other wouldnt release his hair.

"...Master Cyclonis wants you" Ace responded monotonously , as he dragged Aerrow to the edge of his skimmer, he heard a snarl and felt something bite his leg, but not the pain; he looked down at Radarr before he wriggled his leg shaking the creature off before kicking him hard off the skimmer.

"Radarr!" Aerrow cried as he watched his friend fall beneath the cloud layer he squrimed uselessly but it was no good Ace wouldn't let go of him, in fact the older man pulled Aerrow close to his chest. Aerrow bit his lip; Ace even smelled differently; before he smelled of sweat, coffee and cinammon, but now...it was all oil and smoke.

Aerrow screwed his eyes closed in sorrow as Ace jumped, landing on his switchblade, which had been on autopilot and made quick work of Aerrow's hands tying them securely behind his back so he couldn't do anything suspicious.

The Talon commander said nothing as he turned back towards the Cyclonian battle ship and drove inside; Aerrow gave up by this point; the realization of haivng Ace turn into a heartless soilder hurt; he knew the only way to find out how to reverse this, would be to see Cyclonis herself and the best way to do that, was to let himself be caught.

As the doors on the belly of the ship closed and enshrouded him in darkness, Aerrow knew that things were only going to get worse.

"What do you mean Ace took him! Now what are we going to do!" Finn yelled as Junko winced; his ears drooping sadly as he was scolded by his best friend; he knew why Finn was worried; despite everything that had happened yesterday, Finns till cared deeply about Aerrow and would worry and fuss until they got him back.

"We need to think of a decent plan before we dive in there and do something stupid" Piper scolded Finn as she placed a hand on his shoulder "We all need to be calm about this"

Finn shrugged her off with a heated glare "Be calm! Ace is a freaking psycho and he took our friend who might be tortured and killed! How the hell can I be calm!"

Piper sighed softly "If we plan fast we might be able to rescue him tinight, but I need everyone's co-operation FInn" She said softly; trying to soothe the blodne enough for him to comply.

Finn took a deep breath and tried to calm his ailing nerves before he nodded "...Alright...so what are we going to do?

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TA DA! Another chapter done! Sorry its so short but hey and update is an update right! If theres any bad spelling I apologize, I no longer have word or a spell check, which sucks! Read and review if you please! *Bows*


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